Historical Background

On September 4th 1990, the 1st 「South-North high-level talks」 led by the Prime Minister was held in Seoul. In December 1991, 「Inter-Korean Basic Agreement」 was adopted, and the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea established the Bureau of Arms Control in preparation for military trust building and arms control between the two Koreas.

On November 14th 1991, Inter-Korean「Arms Control Seminar」(Track 2) was held with participation of domestic civilian experts. (1st ~ 17th seminars were held)

Despite the efforts, Inter-Korean relation has not been improved, and North Korea continued its military threat by conducting nuclear tests and launching long-range missile. In order to promote Inter-Korean Military Trust Building and Arms Control, which is one of the ROK government's 100 national projects, the seminar was upgraded to 「International Arms Control Seminar」 in 2008 with participation of domestic and foreign civilian experts. (18th ~ 21st seminars were held)

However, since the seminar was at the level of academic exchange, a search for practical policy alternative and cooperation among the regional countries were restricted, and gaining experiences and know-hows on international arms control was stretched to a limit. Therefore, the 「Seoul Defense Dialogue」 (SDD) was launched in 2012 with participation of Vice Minister level defense officials as well as civilian security experts.

The MND is hereby promoting the SDD as an opportunity for practical security discussion in which the participants can find ways for policy alternatives to better enhance trust-building among the countries, and to ease the tension on the Korean Peninsula.

Realistic Security Background

Multilateral dialogues are being newly established due to increased security threats which are difficult for the countries to respond individually.

Improvement on security environment in the Asia-Pacific region including the Korean Peninsula, and efforts for multilateral military trust-building are needed

Various types of security dialogues in the region are playing significant roles for peace and stability. However, Vice Minister level multilateral security dialogue is yet to be present.