Defense talks with Ethiopia, Uganda get underway
The Ministry of National Defense will hold working-level talks with Ethiopia and Uganda beginning today, military officials here said Monday.
This will be South Korea’s first working level defense dialogue with the two African countries.
The talks will take place as a followup to a memorandum of under- standing that Korea signed with Ethiopia and Uganda last year to bolster their military partnerships.
Led by Brig. Gen. Park Chul-kyun, the deputy director general for international policy at the defense ministry, the Seoul delegates embarked on a seven-day trip to Africa, Sunday.
They will meet the Ethiopian representatives headed by Desta Abiche, who is in charge of the Ethiopian defense ministry’s international cooperation, today.
“The two sides are scheduled to discuss cooperation against North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic threats,” a South Korean military official said. “They will also share thoughts on bilateral military exchanges and U.N. peacekeeping operations.”
The South Korean delegation will head to Uganda afterwards.
Park is scheduled to meet with David Muhoozi, the chief of the country’s Defense Forces, Thursday.
The topics to be included in their dialogue are international countermeasures against North Korea, bilateral military exchanges and cooperation between the countries’ defense industries.
The delegates will return home, Saturday.
“We expect the working-level dialogues will help reaffirm our friendship with the two African countries and seek practical measures on military cooperation,” the official said.