Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

On Wednesday this week I will travel to the Republic of Korea to meet with Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon and my counterpart, Song Young-moo, to discuss the security situation on the Korean peninsula and further strengthening the Australia-Republic of Korea defence relationship. It's fair to say that Australia and the Republic of Korea are close partners that share a long history of security cooperation. Like Australia, the ROK is a US ally, a democracy, a like-minded middle power and one of our key economic partners. While I am in Korea, I will deliver the key note address to the Seoul Defence Dialogue, which is a major regional forum for fostering understanding and cooperation on regional and global security issues. We strongly support South Korea and the United States as they work to address the challenges of North Korea. We are supportive of efforts to forge regional and multilateral solutions to enhance security across the Indo-Pacific and to deal with the threats that North Korea poses to regional security. (Time expired)