The South Korean and Polish defense chiefs agreed Wednesday to strengthen their security ties and further boost cooperation in the defense industry, officials said.

South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo met with his Polish counterpart, Tomasz Siemoniak, in Seoul to "exchange their assessment on the situation of the Korean Peninsula and the region and discuss ways on how to further develop their defense cooperative ties," according to the defense ministry.

The Polish minister arrived here earlier in the day for a two-day visit, with his schedule including meetings with state procurement agency officials on pending defense projects, the ministry said.

In December last year, Samsung Techwin Co., a South Korean defense firm, signed a deal with Polish public defense company Huta Stalowa Wola to export 120 K-9 self-propelled howitzers to the East European country.

The 155-millimeter indigenous howitzer, developed by Samsung in 1998 for the country's armed forces to replace K-55 ones, is equipped with state-of-the-art firing and mobility systems and has a maximum firing range of some 40 kilometers.

"The defense ministers' talks will serve as a chance for the two nations to improve bilateral cooperation in the security and defense fields substantially," the ministry said in a statement.

Seoul established a diplomatic relationship with the former communist country in 1989. (Yonhap)