Vietnam, South Korea boost defence ties

Defense ministers of Vietnam and the Republic of Korea agreed to further strengthen defense cooperation during talks held Thursday in Vietnam's capital Hanoi.

The talks were held between Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh and his South Korean counterpart Han Min-koo's visit to Vietnam from Wednesday to Friday.

At the talks, the two ministers agreed to focus on cooperation in areas such as exchanges of young army officers and delegations at all levels, education and training, maintaining of strategic dialogue mechanism at deputy-ministerial level.

The areas also include expansion of naval cooperation, information technology, and experience sharing in United Nations peacekeeping operations as well as defense industry, reported the online newspaper of Vietnamese army.

The two ministers said effective defense cooperation will contribute to bringing bilateral cooperation between the two countries to more intensive level, which benefits both peoples and contributes to maintaining peace, stability and development in the region.

Vietnam and South Korea established diplomatic ties in 1992.