October 5, Defence Attaché of South Korea Lt Col Seunghoon Kim had an official introduction in his position at the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania: the countries’ cooperation opportunities encompassing international cooperation and defence industry were looked into with Lithuania’s Vice Ministers of National Defence – Margiris Abukevičius and Vilius Semeška.
The officials expressed willingness to step institutionalization in the relations of the two countries’ defence institutions and to identify the countries’ priority areas, and exchanged views on the security situation. Lt Col Seunghoon Kim stressed the wish of the Republic of Korea to establish and keep contacts with Lithuania’s military industry enterprises, as well as its interests in developing joint projects.
“The interest the Republic of Korea shows in Lithuania’s defence industry and cooperation opportunities is an acknowledgement to Lithuania, its shows that our country is recognized in the global arena and progresses in the defence domain. The Ministry of National Defence is well aware of the experience the Republic of Korea has in new technology development and sees the country as a potential partner,” said Vice Minister V. Semeška.
“Indo-Pacific subject-matter is included into our bilateral and multilateral discussions increasingly more, therefore Lithuania needs to increase it apprehension of the region. We might consider inviting Korean lecturers to teach at the Military Academy of Lithuania or the Baltic Defence College in the future in order to provide a wider understanding for officers of Lithuania and other countries in the region of what is relevant in Asia in the modern-day. We also have what to offer to Korea in cyber, strategic communications and energy security areas,” said Vice Minister Margiris Abukevičius.
Lithuanian-South Korean defence cooperation
During the contemporary Defence Minister of Lithuania R.Juknevičienė’s visit in Seoul in 2010 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two countries’ Ministries of Defence on defence cooperation. According to the document, the countries conduct information sharing, high-level and expert visit exchanges, cooperation on arranging military and civilian training, participation in international military exercises held by other countries or organisations, as well as other instruments of cooperation.
Representatives of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces had visited Lithuania to observe military exercises.
The Republic of South Korea accredited its first Defence Attaché to Lithuania in 2010 (based in Warsaw, Poland).