S Korea, Israel discuss ways to expand defense cooperation

Senior military officials of South Korea and Israel held talks on Monday to increase cooperation in global relief efforts and defense exchanges between the two nations, Seoul’s defense ministry said. The ministry said that Lee Sang-wook, a senior logistics official, and his Israeli counterpart, Brigadier General Mofid Ganem, discussed how to make some terms in a bilateral memorandum of understanding, signed in 2010, more concrete in a bid to pave the way for the joint humanitarian relief efforts in the future, according to South Korea’s (Yonhap) News Agency. “Because the present memorandum of understanding is too comprehensive, we need to put the agreement into shape,” Park Seung-heung, a senior military official, said. “The two sides will discuss mutual support for logistics, oil and ammunition for humanitarian disaster relief efforts in the Middle East.” The two sides have alternately hosted the annual meeting since 2009 as part of efforts to expand two-way defense cooperation. Last year, Seoul reached a deal to buy portable anti-tank guided missiles from Israel in a bid to protect its western border islands near the tense border with North Korea. Israel last month expressed an interest in buying four frigates from South Korea and plans to send a team of its officials to Seoul next month to pursue a potential deal, according to the Seoul’s state procurement agency.