1. The ninth policy consultation between the Republic of Korea and NATO will take place at the Foreign Ministry on July 4, with Director-General for International Organizations Lee Jang-keun of the ROK Foreign Ministry and Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Security Policy Alejandro Alvargonzalez of NATO leading their respective delegations.

※ The forthcoming policy consultation will also be joined by officials of other relevant government agencies, such as the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

° The ROK, having become one of NATO’s partners across the globe in 2006, has been holding the policy consultation with NATO on an annual basis since 2008, with the eighth of its kind held in Brussels on April 25, 2016.

° NATO’s partners across the globe are the ROK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Mongolia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

2. At the first ROK-NATO policy consultation since the launch of the new government in the ROK on May 10 and the NATO summit in Brussels on May 25, the two sides will review the progress in the implementation of their cooperation projects and ways to work together down the road.

° In particular, the two sides will discuss specific ways to work together, including with regard to the proposed revision of the bilateral Individual Partnership Cooperation Program (IPCP); cyber and other new security threats as well as counter-terrorism and nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and stepping up military cooperation through increased interoperability.

※ The ROK-NATO IPCP, concluded in September 2012, defines the framework of cooperation between NATO and the ROK, the former’s partner.

3. The ROK government will seek to work more closely with NATO, its global partner with such shared values as peace, democracy and human rights, in addressing terrorism, cyber attacks and other security threats to the international community. By doing so, it will continuously seek to become a responsible country that plays a leading role in the efforts to promote democracy and peace in the international community.


* unofficial translation