
South Korea's top military officer held phone talks with his counterpart at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Monday and discussed ways to expand military cooperation, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
In their phone conversation, JCS Chairman Adm. Kim Myung-soo and Adm. Rob Bauer, chair of the NATO Military Committee, reaffirmed their principle of opposing attempts to change the status quo by force and concurred on the need to expand cooperation to sustain a rules-based international order, the JCS said.
Kim stressed that North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, as well as its military alignment with Russia, are becoming a grave challenge to global peace, underscoring the need for a joint response by the international community.
Bauer explained to Kim key agenda items for an upcoming NATO defense meeting scheduled for Jan. 15-16 and requested Seoul's support for the gathering as well as cooperation with NATO, according to the JCS.
Bauer is set to step down from his post after the two-day meeting. He will be succeeded by Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, who formerly served as Italy's chief of defense. (Yonhap)