South Korea and the European Union(EU) will seek to hold an inaugural session of their bilateral security and defense dialogue in the first half of the year, following the establishment of their security and defense partnership last November.

According to Seoul’s foreign ministry on Wednesday, First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun discussed the matter with Belén Martínez Carbonell, secretary general of the European External Action Service(EEAS), in Brussels.

At the time, the two sides solidified the partnership and elevated the dialogue to involve director-general level officials from Seoul’s foreign and defense ministries, as well as managing director-level officials from the EU and agreed to hold talks on an annual basis.

They agreed to bolster cooperation in the defense industry, disarmament, nonproliferation and space.

During talks with the EEAS chief, the vice minister also expressed serious concerns over the illegal military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, as well as North Korea’s nuclear and missile development, stressing the importance of a unified and stern response from the international community.