Korea Joins NATO's Science and Technology Body for Global Cooperation

The Ministry of Defense said on Saturday that Korea officially became a partner country in the NATO Science and Technology Organization, a significant step in increasing cooperation with the military alliance. Within this framework, Korea is expected to engage in joint research and development activities with NATO members and contribute to proposed projects that would be carried out under the direction of the alliance's Science and Technology Committee.

The NATO Science and Technology Organization is a prime platform for advanced defense technologies-cooperation for knowledge sharing and innovative developments amongst member nations. Korea joins STO to become the third partner country into the organization after Australia and Japan.

The press release statement revealed, “Korea's entry into the partnership lays the groundwork for multilateral defense science and technology cooperation with Europe for the first time and marks a milestone in development in Korea-NATO cooperation”.

While Korea is not a NATO member, it is one out of four NATO partners in the Indo-Pacific, the others being Australia, Japan, and New Zealand. As such, this membership would boost Korea's pledge to augment the military bonds with NATO, to modernize itself technologically, and to collaborate on any efforts for global security.