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| In this photo released by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), Lt. Gen. Lee Young-su, left, head of the JCS's Chief Directorate of Strategic Planning, shakes hands with Maj. Gen. Hamed Rafea A. AlAmri, right, chief of staff of Saudi Arabia's General Staff, at the JCS headquarters in Seoul, June 13. Yonhap |
Korea and Saudi Arabia held talks on military cooperation this week for the first time in four years, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Tuesday, as they seek to strengthen defense ties.
Lt. Gen. Lee Young-su, head of the JCS' Chief Directorate of Strategic Planning, and Maj. Gen. Hamed Rafea A. AlAmri, chief of staff of Saudi Arabia's General Staff, led the ROK-Saudi Arabia Military Cooperation Committee meeting in Seoul on Monday and Tuesday, according to the JCS.
ROK stands for Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
It marked the second committee meeting since the inaugural session in Saudi Arabia in 2019. The two sides had agreed to convene the committee annually, but it did not take place from 2020 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During this week's talks, the two sides discussed cooperation in the arms industry, education and training, as well as the revitalization of military exchanges, while sharing assessments on regional security situations, it said.
On Monday, the Saudi Arabian delegation visited the Air Force's Air Defense Missile Command at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul, and the unit's midrange surface-to-air missile (M-SAM) battery to observe Korean troops' readiness posture, it added.
"This visit was a meaningful time to understand the gravity of the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and enhance bilateral military and defense cooperation," Maj. Gen. AlAmri was quoted as saying.
The meeting comes after the defense chiefs of Korea and Saudi Arabia met for talks in Seoul in March and agreed to establish a regular ministerial-level dialogue on arms industry cooperation. (Yonhap)
