Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
S. Korea, NATO sign new partnership to cooperate in security, technology
President Yoon Suk Yeol and North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg hold Individually Tailored Partnership Programs signed by the two sides during a meeting at the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Center in Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday (local time). Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
NATO chief expresses concerns over North Korea's nuclear threats
By Nam Hyun-woo
VILNIUS ― South Korea and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) signed a new partnership agreement composed of 11 documents, called Individually Tailored Partnership Programs (ITPPs), which will cover bilateral cooperation in new sectors such as cybersecurity, new technologies, climate change and the defense industry.
The agreement was signed at a meeting between President Yoon Suk Yeol and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday (local time). Yoon is currently visiting the Baltic country to attend the 2023 NATO summit.
“This year's participation in the NATO summit is aimed at institutionalizing the framework of cooperation between South Korea and NATO through ITPPs and discuss cooperation in military intelligence and cybersecurity,” Yoon said during the meeting.
“As Secretary-General Stoltenberg said, the security of the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific are inseparable, and under these circumstances, close cooperation between NATO and Indo-Pacific countries, including South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, is becoming more important than ever.”
The ITPPs are aimed at building a more systematic and institutional framework for cooperation between NATO and partner countries, specifying the areas of teamwork. Also, ITPPs have a four-year duration, which is longer than the two years for IPCPs or Individual Partnership and Cooperation Programs, which are NATO's standard documents with partner countries that define cooperation from a broad perspective and in a non-binding manner. As a result, ITPPs, which are replacing IPCPs, enable plans for long-term cooperation.
South Korea's ITPPs with NATO consist of 11 areas, aimed at improving partnerships among like-minded states, jointly responding to security challenges, maintaining a rules-based international order, and pursuing cooperation in the fields of interoperability.
The 11 areas include counterterrorism cooperation, arms reduction and non-proliferation, emerging technologies, cybersecurity, science and technology and cooperation for interoperability.
Interoperability is aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of South Korea's participation in NATO training exercises by improving the South Korean military's understanding of NATO-led joint drills and pursuing the South's participation.
“We value the partnership with you because security is not regional, security is global,” Stoltenberg said. “What happens in the Indo-Pacific matters for Europe and what happens in Europe matters for the Indo-Pacific.”
South Korea signed its first IPCP with NATO in 2012 and revised it in 2017 and 2019.
“Unlike IPCP, which mostly listed the areas of cooperation, ITPPs specify the goals they pursue, background for cooperation, key objectives and the timeframe of cooperative projects aimed at building a more systematic and institutional framework for cooperation between NATO and partner countries,” the presidential office said.
Along with South Korea, NATO's Asia-Pacific partners (AP4) ― Japan, Australia and New Zealand ― are also strengthening security cooperation with NATO by signing respective ITPPs, as the military alliance seeks to expand cooperation with non-member countries.
Stoltenberg added that NATO is “very concerned” about the nuclear missile programs of North Korea, which affect all NATO allies and “underlies the importance of all those who believe in the rules-based order to stand together and to stand up for international rules-based order.”
Closer relations between the AP4 countries and NATO, however, are anticipated to elicit angry responses from China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said last month that “the attitude of the majority of countries in the region (Asia) is very clear” and “they oppose the emergence of military blocs in the region.”
“They don't welcome NATO's outreach in Asia. They don't want a replica of bloc confrontation in Asia.”
President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with United States senator Jeanne Shaheen during a meeting with U.S. delegation to NATO at a hotel in Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday (local time). Joint Press Corps
During their meeting, Yoon shared Seoul's plan to set up a global cyber defense training center and hold an international cyber defense training session. He also proposed close cooperation with NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE).
Stoltenberg recognized South Korea's role in the CCDCOE and expressed his hopes of enhancing bilateral cooperation in cybersecurity to deal with emerging trans-border threats.
Before meeting the NATO secretary-general, Yoon had a meeting with six U.S. senators who visited Lithuania as part of the American delegation to the military alliance.
During the meeting, they shared opinions on follow-up measures of Yoon's state visit to the U.S. in April and Seoul's support for Ukraine.
Yoon said his meeting with the U.S. delegation shows that the South Korea-U.S. alliance is expanding on the global stage, while Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said she highly recognize Seoul's active support for Ukraine and stronger partnership with NATO, according to the presidential office.