Joint security area, Panmunjom

Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Thanks very much, everyone. Can I thank General Macaulay and all of the personnel who assisted with my and my delegation's visit today. But more importantly, I thank them for their service to stability and peace on the Peninsula, which is so important to stability and peace in the Indo-Pacific. I want to particularly shout out to the Australian soldiers who I've met who are serving also. We really appreciate your service, and I know from talking to the General how much having Australia and other countries serve as part of these UN forces is important.

Visiting Panmunjom today is a potent reminder of how ever-present the threat and risk is for people living in the Republic of Korea, and this is - you only need to understand, personally the geography to understand how close and ever-present this threat is. My visit to the JSA was a reminder of two things. It was a reminder of international cooperation to address security and stability, the infrastructure that's still there to enable talks. But it's also a reminder of just how hard it is for peace to be attained and how hard it is for the international community to address the challenge to security and stability.

I want to pay tribute here to all those who served 70 years ago, the 17,000 Australians who fought in the Korean War. Again, as I said, I acknowledge all the Australian service personnel who I've met today. I pay my respects to all who served and to the sacrifice of the 340 Australians who died in that war.

Australia stands in solidarity with the Republic of Korea. We share our grave concerns about DPRK's escalatory actions, destabilising actions. We continue alongside the international community to condemn North Korea's ballistic missile launches which threaten our security, the security of our friends and partners, including South Korea and Japan. I also want to say something about the security pact between North Korea and Russia and say again, this is destabilising. This is risky for the world. And again, we see Russia behaving in ways which are not conducive to peace, but are escalatory. The continued transfer also of weapons from North Korea to Russia is a flagrant violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. We continue to reiterate our commitment to the implementation of all UNSC resolutions, in relation particularly to the DPRK.

Today, I will meet with the Foreign Minister, Foreign Minister Cho. We will discuss many matters. First, how we continue to stand in solidarity with the Republic of Korea in relation to DPRK's provocative and reckless conduct. But we will also be talking about something bigger, which is how we work together for a peaceful, stable and prosperous region and a region that we share. I'm conscious of President Yoon's speech recently where he spoke about, 'Korea being no longer alone in our journey. Our friends and partners from all around the world stand with us and support us'. Well, Australia is one of those partners. And I look forward to meeting both with the President and Foreign Minister Cho to talk about how we can enhance that cooperation. I'm happy to take questions.

Journalist: Minister Wong my name is Soo-Hyun Joe from YTN.

Foreign Minister: Nice to see you. Thank you.

Journalist Thank you so much for speaking with us today. You held a two-plus-two meeting with Korea in May regarding military and defence industry cooperation, which ultimately will be used to establish peace and stability in the region, what does Australia most want to cooperate with Korea on regarding this?

Foreign Minister: We're going to cooperate with Korea in those areas they wish us to cooperate with them on. And I think that there's a few points I'd like to make here. One is that ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific requires the engagement of many countries. Peace is never a given, and it is also something that must be worked for. We see Korea as being a very important part of enabling the strategic balance in the region. And we see our relationship with Korea, which has been an economic relationship, a very important economic relationship, a very important energy relationship. But we see that as part of a bigger relationship, a relationship which will go to increasingly greater economic cooperation, cooperation on climate, but also cooperation in the strategic area. We already have military exercises where we participate together, and we will continue to look at ways in which we can deepen our Defence cooperation. Anyone else?

Journalist South Korea has recently expressed interest in joining the AUKUS security pact Pillar II and Australia is one of the members. How do you see the process?

Foreign Minister: Well, look, you know, we have established the AUKUS partnership, both Pillar I and Pillar II. Pillar I, of course, is our primary focus because it deals with assuring Australia's submarine capability. And we are very focused on that task. Obviously, we have a number of countries that have expressed an interest in cooperation in Pillar II and the AUKUS partners will work through that in time to come. But what I would say is the expression of interest that you described from the ROK and from other countries is a reminder that we need a strategic balance in the region. That is the prerequisite for peace. We want a region where no country is dominated, no one country dominates, where we all have our sovereignty assured. And to achieve that, democracies like Australia, Japan, Korea, the United States and others need to work it together. And we are very focused on doing so.

Journalist So, I also am informed that Australia has been looking to build its Defence capability and considering two Korean companies as a potential warship contractors and I'm so sorry, I have to ask you this question also, because as you understand, it's a very important impact on our perspective as well. So, what does the Australian Government see as a strength or possibly a positive quality of Korean weapons systems or defence capabilities?

Foreign Minister: So, look, what I would say first is that we will, in relation to the very ambitious Defence program Australia has, we will continue to apply, go through appropriate processes. We will assess the capability we need. We welcome the participation by partners in those procurement processes. Ultimately, decisions Australia makes will be made based on capability and a proper assessment of that tender process. Obviously, that's how we approach our capability. But I understand that this is something that people are interested in here and in other countries I visit.

Journalist What are some of the military capabilities that Australia needs?

Foreign Minister: Well, I think the DSR, the Defence Strategic Review, set out our capabilities, the capabilities that the government is seeking to develop and the reshaping of the Australian Defence Force. Obviously, the key priority at this stage is to progress the AUKUS Pillar I, which is the acquisition of nuclear power but not nuclear-armed submarines.

Okay, thank you everyone. And I again, thank the General and all of his personnel for the visit today and the arrangements. We really appreciate it. Most of all, I thank them for their service. This is a part of the world which has known a lot of trouble, a lot of grief, a lot of tragedy, a lot of conflict. And having the UN Command here to maintain peace and stability is important not just to the people of the Republic of Korea, but to people across the Indo-Pacific. So, we thank you.