The Seoul Defense Dialogue 2019 (SDD 2019) was held in Seoul from September 4^th to 6^th. Dr. Han Fangming, Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the CPPCC National Committee and Chairman of the Charhar Institute, attended the opening ceremony and addressed the first plenary meeting.      

Han Fangming speaks at the Seoul Defense Dialogue 2019.

Top government officials and civilian experts from 56 countries and six international organizations attended the SDD 2019 under the theme of “Building Peace Together: Challenges and Visions”.

At this year’s Seoul Defense Dialogue, the worsening relations between Japan and South Korea recently have become one of the focuses of concern. Japan has dispatched high-level staff to attend the event. However, there have been no report of bilateral meetings between Korea and Japan.           

Admiral Robert Abrams, Commander of the US military in ROK, attended the event, which was the first time that commander-level representatives of the US military in ROK attended the Seoul Defense Dialogue.           

Some analysts believe that this is an effort made by the US side to ease possible tensions between the ROK and the US after the ROK abandoned the Military Intelligence Protection Agreement.          

ROK’s Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo expressed concern in his opening speech about some “uneasy” moves by countries to promote their own national interests, causing security conflicts in the region.

ROK’s Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo speaks at the event.

He noted that the ROK will continue to make efforts to build mutual trust with patience for lasting peace, urging multilateral cooperation.

Lee Nak-yon, Prime Minister of the ROK, said in his speech at the event that although no significant results have been achieved in achieving denuclearization of the Peninsula, the three sides -- the ROK, the DPRK and the US -- have maintained dialogues and communication since last year.

And Lee hoped that the DPRK and the United States will resume working-level consultations as soon as possible.   

Chinese Major General Pi Mingyong, Deputy Dean of the Academy of Military Sciences of the PLA, attended the event as the chief representative of China and Chinese scholar Zhang Zhongyi, Senior Fellow and Director of the Peninsula Peace Research Center of the Charhar Institute also attended the event.

The panels at the event covered topics on "Security Situation on the Korean Peninsula", "Korean Peninsula Peace Process", and "Cyber Security". Special panels were also held, covering topics "Security in Southeast Asia and the Middle East", and "Peninsula Military Force Control".          

In addition, a total of 15 bilateral meetings between different countries were also held during the event.  

During the Seoul Defense Dialogue 2019

The Seoul Defense Dialogue is a multilateral security consultation mechanism sponsored by the ROK’s Ministry of Defense. Since it was launched in 2012, it has been held annually as a venue for many multilateral and bilateral meetings, playing a pivotal role in peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

Copy Editor: Zhu Yanhong