Defense chief, envoys of UNC member states agree to enhance security cooperation

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik met the ambassadors of United Nations Command (UNC) member states Friday to discuss ways to promote peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula amid rising North Korean threats. Shin held the meeting with ambassadors from 17 nations, as well as UNC Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Derek Macaulay and former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "Our military will deter North Korean threats and maintain peace under three pillars -- an overwhelming defense posture, a strong South Korea-U.S. alliance, and close cooperation with the UNC and UNC member states," Shin said during the meeting held at Ministry of Defense Convention Center in Seoul. The envoys agreed that peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula are integral to global peace and pledged to closely coordinate with South Korea to uphold the shared goal, according to the ministry. The participants also discussed ways to hold a defense ministerial meeting with UNC member states on a regular basis, following the inaugural meeting held last year. Last November, South Korea hosted the inaugural defense ministerial meeting with the 17 UNC member states as part of efforts to deepen ties with the countries that sent troops or other forms of support to South Korea under the U.N. flag during the 1950-53 Korean War. In March, dozens of service members from 12 UNC member states participated in the Freedom Shield exercise, an annual military drill held between South Korea and the United States. North Korea has long called for dissolving the UNC and denounced the inaugural defense ministerial meeting among UNC members as a dangerous scheme to spark a "new war of aggression" against Pyongyang. The U.S.-led multinational command was established in July 1950 under a U.N. mandate to support South Korea against North Korea's aggression and has been overseeing the armistice that halted the Korean War. The current members of the UNC are the United States, Britain, Canada, Turkey, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand, the Netherlands, Colombia, Gre ece, New Zealand, Belgium, France, South Africa, Norway, Denmark and Italy. Source: Yonhap News Agency