 |
| ▲ Lim Jong-deuk, second deputy director of national security at the presidential office, attends a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on Aug. 22, 2022. (Yonhap) |
govt-defense industry
Gov't to launch consultative body to increase defense industry exports
SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) -- The government plans to launch a private-public consultative body to help increase defense industry exports, the presidential office said Monday.
The new body will bring together the presidential National Security Office, the defense, foreign and industry ministries, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and defense companies to discuss strategies for boosting arms exports.
The panel will hold its first meeting on April 21 led by Lim Jong-deuk, second deputy director of national security at the presidential office.
The agenda for the first meeting is expected to include follow-up steps to South Korean companies' contracts to supply K2 tanks and K-9 self-propelled howitzers to Poland, and strategies for increasing exports to the Middle East following President Yoon Suk Yeol's trip to the United Arab Emirates last January.
The meeting could also be used to discuss preparations for a Reciprocal Defense Procurement Agreement between South Korea and the United States, which Yoon and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to begin discussing during their summit in Seoul last May.
Yoon is set to visit Washington on April 26 for another summit with Biden.
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
