Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back will attend the 23rd Asia Security Summit in Singapore from May 29 to 31 and hold talks with defense ministers from various countries, the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday.
The Asia Security Summit is an annual multilateral security conference hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a UK-based think tank.
The conference brings together defense ministers from major countries across Asia and Europe, with various bilateral meetings also taking place. It is commonly known as the "Shangri-La Dialogue," named after the host venue, the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore.
Ahn is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi during the conference.
The face-to-face meeting between Ahn and Koizumi will be the first since the Korea-Japan defense ministers' meeting held in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in January, when Ahn visited Japan.
The Korea-Japan defense ministers' meeting is expected to discuss ways to expand the increasingly active exchanges between the two countries' defense authorities.
In particular, the meeting is likely to address plans to hold the Korea-Japan Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX), which had been suspended for about nine years before the two sides agreed to resume it at the Yokosuka meeting.
A bilateral visit by Koizumi to Korea is also being discussed for after the Shangri-La Dialogue meeting, suggesting that momentum for revitalizing Korea-Japan defense exchanges will continue.
U.S. Secretary of Defense (War) Pete Hegseth will also attend this year's Shangri-La Dialogue.
However, a separate Korea-U.S. defense ministers' bilateral meeting is unlikely to be held on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, as the two ministers already met during Ahn's visit to the United States on May 11 (local time). The two ministers may still exchange remarks if they encounter each other at the venue.
Attention is also focused on whether an opportunity will be arranged for the defense ministers of Korea, the U.S., and Japan to meet together.
Ahn is also scheduled to meet with U.S. congressional delegations from both the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as the defense ministers of Australia, Norway, the Philippines, and Thailand, to discuss ways to expand defense and defense industry cooperation.
In addition, Ahn will deliver a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue plenary session on May 30 on the theme of "Regional Security Challenges and the Republic of Korea's Strategic Response."
