▲ Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back (C) leaves for the United States for talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on May 10, 2026. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) defense minister-security forum

(LEAD) Defense minister to attend annual security forum in Singapore this week

(ATTN: UPDATES with details of Ahn's planned bilateral meetings in paras 5-10; ADDS byline)

By Kim Seung-yeon

SEOUL, May 28 (Yonhap) -- Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back will travel to Singapore later this week to attend an annual security forum, his ministry said Thursday, amid an increasingly volatile security landscape, highlighted by the Middle East conflict.

Ahn will attend the 23rd Asia Security Summit, also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, from Friday through Sunday, where he will be joined by his counterparts of key nations, including the United States, Japan and other European and Indo-Pacific partners, the ministry said in a release.

Ahn plans to deliver a speech to the plenary session, introducing "South Korea's defense policy in light of responses to a rapidly changing security environment and related challenges," it said.

On the sidelines of the gathering, Ahn will hold bilateral talks with his counterparts of Japan, Australia, Norway, the Philippines and Thailand to discuss mutual security issues and ways to expand defense cooperation.

Ahn's expected meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi draws attention as to whether they will announce a formal resumption of their joint maritime search and rescue exercises (SAREX) during their talks.

The two sides agreed to restart the drills when they met in Japan in January, in what would mark the end of a nine-year suspension that had continued amid frayed bilateral ties.

Bilateral ties between Seoul and Tokyo have significantly warmed since the previous Yoon Suk Yeol government committed to resolving the wartime forced labor compensation issue without Japanese involvement.

Ahn and Koizumi may also discuss Tokyo's efforts to sign a mutual military logistics support pact with Seoul, although South Korea has largely maintained a reserved stance on the matter.

As U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is also set to attend the security forum, a trilateral meeting among the defense chiefs of South Korea, the United States and Japan could also take place.

The possibility of separate bilateral talks between Ahn and Hegseth appears low, as the two already held talks in Washington earlier this month.

Ahn also plans to meet with members of the U.S. House and the Senate attending the forum, the ministry said.

Launched in 2002, the Shangri-La Dialogue serves as a multilateral platform for top defense and military officials to discuss security situations in the Indo-Pacific and around the world, and efforts to promote cooperation in the region.

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