Officials stress multilateral cooperation for security at Marine Corps forum

This Dec. 7, 2022 file photo, provided by the Marine Corps, shows Marine Corps Commandant Lt. Gen. Kim Gye-hwan at his inauguration ceremony at the Marine Corps headquarters in Hwaseong, some 45 kilometers south of Seoul. Yonhap

Government and military officials called Tuesday for multilateral cooperation in fostering regional and global peace during a forum hosted by the Marine Corps, noting the transnational nature of security in an interconnected world.

The armed service held the biennial International Symposium for Republic of Korea Marine Corps Development under the main theme of "the Role of the Marine Corps for the Indo-Pacific Region, a Region of Freedom, Peace and Prosperity."

The forum brought together some 140 people, including Korea's Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lee Jong-ho and Marine Corps Commandant Lt. Gen. Kim Gye-hwan, and U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific Commander Lt. Gen. William M. Jurney.

"As a country's security issues directly or indirectly affect the well-being of countries in the entire world in the end, multilateral security cooperation is indispensable," Seoul's Marine chief said in his address.

Lee Seung-beom, director general for international policy at the ministry, stressed the need to expand combined drills between the Korean Marine Corps and its counterparts from key members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to strengthen maritime security capabilities.

Korea sent around 280 military personnel to the Thailand-led Cobra Gold exercise in March and six personnel to the Indonesia-led Komodo naval exercise earlier this month, while it plans to deploy some 100 Navy sailors to the Philippines-led Kamandag exercise in October, Lee said.

The symposium was launched in 1993 to help chart a direction of the Marine Corps' development in an ever-changing security environment. (Yonhap)