South Korea, Australia to launch 'economic security dialogue'

Seoul, July 30 (IANS) South Korea and Australia on Tuesday agreed to launch an "economic security dialogue" aimed at enhancing communication and cooperation in the economic security field between the two countries, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

The agreement was reached during bilateral talks in Seoul between Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yu and his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, the ministry said in a release.

The chief secretary for economic security from the presidential office and the deputy secretary from Australia's Foreign Ministry will serve as chief representatives for the new dialogue, it said.

The inaugural meeting is scheduled to be held in Seoul, Yonhap news agency reported.

The two sides also agreed to pursue a "climate dialogue" led by the climate change ambassadors of their respective foreign ministries and to explore joint projects in the infrastructure sector of the Indo-Pacific region.

The ministerial meeting comes two months after the foreign and defence ministers of the two countries held a "two plus two" meeting in Melbourne in May.

Before the meeting, Wong paid a visit to the Demilitarised Zone separating the two Koreas, condemning North Korea's military pact with Russia as "destabilising and risky for the world."

She made the remarks while speaking to reporters about the deepening military and other cooperation between North Korea and Russia.

"I also want to address the security pact between North Korea and Russia. Once again, this is destabilising and risky for the world," Wong said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new treaty on partnership during their summit in Pyongyang in June. The mutual defence pact calls for them to provide military and other assistance "without delay" if either country is invaded or enters a state of war.

"Once again, we see Russia acting in ways that are not conducive to peace, but rather escalatory," Wong said, adding that North Korea's weapons supplies to Russia for Moscow's war in Ukraine are a flagrant violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Pyongyang and Moscow have denied conducting any arms transactions.

Wong also called for further cooperation with South Korea in various sectors, ranging from economics to defence.

"We see South Korea as being very important in enabling the strategic balance in the region," she said.

Regarding South Korea's potential participation in the AUKUS security partnership, Wong said such interest "is a reminder that we need a strategic balance in the region."

The AUKUS partnership, launched in September 2021, has drawn attention in South Korea after a US official in March mentioned South Korea and Japan as potential partners under consideration by AUKUS members to cooperate in high-tech areas, known as Pillar 2, which covers quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and hypersonics.

Wong arrived in Seoul after attending a ministers' gathering in Laos of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc and joining a meeting of Quad foreign ministers in Tokyo with counterparts from the United States, Japan and India.

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