TOKYO, Oct 20 (KUNA) -- North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska on Monday called for further strengthening ties with South Korea through "practical" cooperation, especially in the arms industry, to better deal with common security concerns such as North Korea's deepening alignment with Russia, Yonhap News Agency reported.
"What happens in the Euro-Atlantic influences the Indo-Pacific and vice versa," Shekerinska said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency.
"This is why we believe in the power of our alliance to protect the peace and stability in our region, but we also believe that we are stronger because of our partnerships here in the Indo-Pacific." Shekerinska's remarks came as North Korea and Russia continue to expand military cooperation, following the signing of a mutual defense pact last year, while seeking to flaunt their solidarity with China.
The state leaders and senior officials of the three countries stood shoulder-to-shoulder at recent back-to-back military parades in Beijing and Pyongyang.
"We are interested in developing our partnership with Republic of Korea (South Korea) on both political dialogue, but also on practical cooperation," the senior NATO official said in the interview conducted on the sidelines of the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition in Goyang, northwest of Seoul.
Shekerinska expressed concern over the growing military alignment between North Korea and Russia, marked by the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia in its war against Ukraine, Russia's military technology transfer to North Korea and the North's continued weapons development.
Against such a backdrop, the NATO official specified the arms industry as an area in which the 32-member military alliance and South Korea can develop a "meaningful" partnership to bolster deterrence and protect peace.
"We need to develop meaningful partnerships. We need to develop partnerships based on values, but also we need to be very practical in this cooperation," she added. (end) mk.gta