President Yoon Suk Yeol had meeting with NATO Secretary-General

President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is visiting Vilnius, Lithuaniamet with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on the morning of July 11 local time. They exchanged opinions on cooperation between South Korea and NATO, Ukrainian war, and North Korean nuclear weapon.

President Yoon highly evaluated the continued development of cooperative relations between South Korea and NATO as partners who share core values. Both sides welcomed the agreement of the Korea-NATO Individually Tailored Partnership Program (ITPP) at the NATO summit, and praised thatITPP paved the way for further institutionalization of cooperation. President Yoon also discussed ways to effectively strengthen information sharing with NATO.

President Yoon explained Korea's plan to set up an ‘international cyber training center’ and hold international cyber training as a leading cybersecurity country in the Indo-Pacific region. He expects close cooperation between the Korea International Cyber Training Center and NATO's CCDCOE. Stoltenberg evaluated South Korea's role in joining the NATO Cyber Defense Cooperation Center for the first time in Asia (2022), and mentioned, "We hope to continue to strengthen bilateral cooperation in cyber security, a transborder threat."

President Yoon reaffirmedstrong support for Ukraine and praised the leadership of Secretary-General Stoltenberg, who has led NATO since 2014. Stoltenberg expressed his gratitude for Korean government's support for the Ukrainian people.

Furthermore, President Yoon stressed that the international community should send a firm message in response to North Korea's illegal nuclearprovocations, and called for NATO's continued support. Stoltenbergreaffirmed his support for Korea’s effort to completely denuclearize North Korea and achieve sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula.