South Korea is preparing to set up a delegation to NATO in Brussels, and the national security adviser said on Wednesday. Seoul will push to empower its partnership with the organisation and play a bigger role on the global stage.
About President Yoon Suk-yeol’s scheduled attendance at a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) meeting this month, national security advisor Kim Sung-Han added that Seoul would seek to support connections with members of NATO in the face of an “unpredictable” international situation.
He added that South Korea is talking with NATO on data sharing, combined exercises as well as joint research to counter emerging security threats.
Yoon, inaugurated in May, has mentioned that his main foreign policy goal is to make South Korea a “global pivotal state” to promote freedom, peace, and prosperity based on its liberal democratic values.
Although the June 29-30 meeting in Madrid is expected to note the Ukraine crisis, Yoon plans to drum up international cooperation against North Korea’s nuclear programme, as mentioned in the statement by Kim.
Moreover, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had stated the coming summit is expected to agree on an assistance package for war-torn Ukraine that will help the nation move from old Soviet-era weapons to NATO standard gear.
South Korea plans to declare additional humanitarian support to Ukraine at the meeting, but Seoul was not considering lethal aid, as per the sources.
In addition, the new president could also hold a trilateral meeting with his United States of America as well as Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of the NATO summit, says the officials, citing a presidential official as saying Yoon’s attendance does not represent a policy against China or Russia.
