The conference “Seoul Defense Dialogue” took place in South Korea between 7-9 September. The event aimed to provide a forum for the discussion of possible answers to complex security challenges.
The forum was held with the participation of 43 nations and international organizations. For the first time, Hungary too was among the invitees. The Hungarian delegation was headed by Deputy Minister Tamás Vargha, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, and its members included, among others, Péter Siklósi, Deputy State Secretary for Defence Policy and Planning.
The participants discussed topics such as the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and the role of the United Nations in solving the crisis. Further topics included other peacekeeping operations, the potentials for dual-use technologies and measures against violent extremism and terrorism.
In his contribution to this latter issue, Tamás Vargha stated that everything must be done to prevent the terrorists from attaining their goals, which necessitates international cooperation.
On the margins of the Seoul Defense Dialogue, the deputy defence ministers of the Visegrád Four countries and the Republic of Korea met with each other, and a Korean–Hungarian bilateral meeting also took place. During the meeting of the deputy defence ministers of the V4 countries and the Republic of Korea, the two sides discussed their positions on the security situation of the Korean Peninsula, the development of the European security situation in the light of the NATO Warsaw Summit, and presented the results of the Visegrád cooperation. The agenda of the meeting included several issues in the development of military capabilities and the modernization of armed forces, as well as the possible ways of cooperation between the Republic of Korea and the V4 countries in the field of defence industry.
At the Korean–Hungarian bilateral meeting, Tamás Vargha and his partner discussed current issues in military-to-military relations and the possibilities for military technology cooperation between the two countries.