– NATO reconfirms its commitment to expanding defense cooperation with the four Indo-Pacific partner countries, IP4, which includes South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia, as of October 17th.
– A NATO official stated in Brussels that there is a strong foundation for such collaboration through platforms like the NATO Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD), which fosters multinational cooperation and suggests new projects to enhance interoperability and standardization among member countries.
– The official expressed that the alliance’s intensive dialogue with IP4 aims to strengthen defense collaboration, which would also secure key defense supply chains.
– Bilateral cooperation between NATO member states and individual IP4 countries is seen as feasible, with specific examples like next-generation fighter jet development between Japan, the UK, and Italy, and defense cooperation between South Korea and Poland.
– During a briefing to various media, the potential sending of North Korean troops to Russia was addressed, with NATO Secretary-General Marc Rutte’s position remaining that confirmation is not possible at this stage, yet ongoing developments are being closely monitored, emphasizing that any North Korean aid to Russia would not be provided for free.