Defense ministry to host Seoul Defense Dialogue next week amid global security uncertainties
This photo shows a plenary session proceeding at the Seoul Defense Dialogue, Sept. 9, 2025. Yonhap
Korea will hold an annual international security forum next week to discuss ways for cooperation in the midst of growing uncertainties in the global security environment, the defense ministry said Friday.
The Seoul Defense Dialogue (SDD), scheduled to run from Monday through Wednesday, will be held under the theme "Toward a new coexistence in the age of turbulence," according to the ministry.
This year's forum is expected to bring together some 1,000 personnel from 67 nations, including the defense chiefs of the Czech Republic, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Uganda.
The event includes three plenary sessions on international order and alliance, and four special sessions involving security experts to discuss a new approach to achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula, and rifts and cooperation in the maritime order.
A working-group discussion on cyber and space security sectors is scheduled to take place Monday.
The ministry said the forum will serve as an opportunity to seek new ways for coexistence in a rapidly changing security environment.
Launched in 2012, the annual forum is a major multilateral security meeting involving senior-level officials, designed to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula and security cooperation in the region.
Meanwhile, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi was expected to skip the forum next week, in a move seen as related to his recent visit to a controversial war shrine in Tokyo that drew criticism from Seoul. His predecessor, Gen Kanatani, attended last year's SDD.