[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), invited Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong to the NATO and Asia-Pacific four-country foreign ministers' meeting to be held in Brussels, Belgium, in early next month.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 14th, Secretary General Stoltenberg expressed his intention to invite Minister Chung during a phone call, stating that he is planning a joint foreign ministers' meeting next month involving NATO member countries and four Asia-Pacific partner countries (Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand). Minister Chung responded that he would consider attending positively once an official invitation is received.
Minister Chung and Secretary General Stoltenberg also condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a clear violation of the UN Charter. They emphasized that it is a case of infringing upon the inviolability of sovereignty and territorial integrity, which are the foundations of the rules-based international order.
They also discussed the escalating crisis on the Korean Peninsula, including North Korea's missile test launches. Both sides shared assessments of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and discussed cooperation measures.
Since 2006, Korea has been a global partner of NATO, cooperating in areas such as cyber security, non-proliferation, counter-terrorism, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense.
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