Korea and Angola held their first talks between their national defense ministries since establishing diplomatic relations in 1992.

Minister of National Defense Han Minkoo and his Angolan counterpart Joao Lourenco held their talks at the Seoul government complex on Dec. 19. The ministers discussed issues such as the pending agreement covering cooperation on national defense, the exchange of personnel between their ministries, cooperation on military education and defense technologies.

During the talks Minister Han explained the state of affairs following North Korea's fifth nuclear provocation, and asked that Angola continue to support the international community's efforts in solving the North Korean nuclear weapons issue.

Angola is a non-permanent member on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for 2015-2016, and chaired the UNSC meeting that passed the Security Council Resolution 2270 back in March.



On the same day, Minister Lourenco held talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se.

During the talks, the ministers discussed measures to expand their relations, and addressed topics such as trade and commerce, cooperation on national defense, and the state of affairs on the Korean peninsula.

"Next year, our countries will have maintained diplomatic relations for 25 years and I look forward to expanding on all areas of cooperation," said Minister Yun. "We have already begun expanding cooperation on energy, construction and defense. Korea will continue to work with Angola, our third largest African trade partner, to diversify our economy."

"Angola and Korea have a lot in common in terms of our development history and I ask that Korea share its experiences with us and invest in Angolan businesses, in industries such as shipbuilding, steelworks, hydroelectric power plants, construction and energy," said Minister Lourenco.

By Lee Hana
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
hlee10@korea.kr