Defense Minister An Kyoo-baek will participate in the 23rd Shangri-La Dialogue, scheduled to take place in Singapore from May 29 to 31.
According to the Ministry of National Defense on May 28, Minister An will deliver a speech on May 30 addressing "Regional Security Challenges and South Korea's Strategic Response," outlining South Korea's defense policies in response to the rapidly changing security environment.
During the event, Minister An is expected to hold discussions with delegations from the United States Congress, as well as defense ministers from Japan, Australia, Norway, the Philippines, and Thailand, focusing on expanding defense and military cooperation.
This will mark the first face-to-face meeting between Minister An and Japan's Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi since their bilateral talks in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, during An's visit to Japan in January. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will also attend this year's Shangri-La Dialogue.
However, a bilateral meeting between the U.S. and South Korean defense ministers has already taken place on May 11 during Minister An's visit to the U.S., making another meeting during the Shangri-La Dialogue unlikely. Attention will be on whether the defense ministers of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan will have the opportunity to meet together.
The Shangri-La Dialogue is an annual multilateral security conference organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) since 2002, bringing together defense ministers, senior military officials, and security experts from major countries in the Asia-Pacific and Europe, including South Korea, the United States, Japan, ASEAN, and the EU. The event has been held annually at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore since its inception, hence the name "Shangri-La Dialogue."
According to the Ministry of National Defense on May 28, Minister An will deliver a speech on May 30 addressing "Regional Security Challenges and South Korea's Strategic Response," outlining South Korea's defense policies in response to the rapidly changing security environment.
During the event, Minister An is expected to hold discussions with delegations from the United States Congress, as well as defense ministers from Japan, Australia, Norway, the Philippines, and Thailand, focusing on expanding defense and military cooperation.
This will mark the first face-to-face meeting between Minister An and Japan's Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi since their bilateral talks in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, during An's visit to Japan in January. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will also attend this year's Shangri-La Dialogue.
However, a bilateral meeting between the U.S. and South Korean defense ministers has already taken place on May 11 during Minister An's visit to the U.S., making another meeting during the Shangri-La Dialogue unlikely. Attention will be on whether the defense ministers of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan will have the opportunity to meet together.
The Shangri-La Dialogue is an annual multilateral security conference organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) since 2002, bringing together defense ministers, senior military officials, and security experts from major countries in the Asia-Pacific and Europe, including South Korea, the United States, Japan, ASEAN, and the EU. The event has been held annually at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore since its inception, hence the name "Shangri-La Dialogue."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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