S. Korea, Australia hold vice-ministerial talks on bilateral ties

Senior diplomats of South Korea and Australia held talks in Seoul on Wednesday and discussed joint efforts to boost bilateral cooperation in a range of areas including economy and regional security, the Australian Embassy in Seoul said.

Yoon Soon-gu, deputy minister for political affairs at Seoul's foreign ministry, met with his Australian counterpart, Richard Maude, deputy secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Indo-Pacific Group, the embassy said in a release. 

Officials from defense ministries of the two countries also attended the meeting.

During the talks, they discussed ways to promote economic opportunities and enhance cooperation in the defense field and people-to-people exchanges, the embassy said in a release.

They also discussed recent developments on the Korean Peninsula, reaffirming their commitment to working together toward the complete denuclearization of North Korea and toward stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, it added. (Yonhap)