S. Korea, U.S. pushing to establish senior-level talks on defense tech cooperation

SEOUL, South Korea and the United States are seeking to establish a senior-level consultative body on defense technology cooperation as part of efforts to bolster defense ties, a South Korean defense official said Wednesday. The envisioned regular vice ministerial talks will be aimed at strengthening bilateral defense technology cooperation at a policy and strategic level, according to the official. If realized, the technologies expected to be discussed include robots designed to remove weapons of mass destruction and improvised explosive device (IED) disposal equipment, which are expected to help deal with North Korean threats. The North is believed to own around 2,500 to 5,000 tons of chemical weapons, according to the South's Defense White Paper. Mines within the inter-Korean land border have posed threats to front-line South Korean troops, with two soldiers being wounded by North Korean mines inside the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas in 2015. Source: Yonhap News Agency