South Korea and Australia held working-level defense talks Friday to discuss the security situation in the Asia-Pacific region as well as ways to beef up bilateral cooperation in the defense segment, the Defense Ministry said.
  

In the 16th round of the South Korea-Australia defense policy working-level meeting held earlier in the day, Director-General of International Policy Yoon Soon-ku and his Australian counterpart Scott Dewar discussed current regional security issues as well as how to enhance "practical" defense collaboration in the fields of military exchange, international peace keeping operations and joint military exercises, the ministry said in a statement.
  

The officials also delved into a blueprint of bilateral security and defense cooperation that will be unveiled in the upcoming joint meeting of the countries' defense and foreign ministers, slated for September, it also noted.
  

Since first launching the so-called two-plus-two meeting of South Korean and Australian defense and foreign ministers in July 2013 in Seoul, the countries are scheduled to hold the second gathering in Australia in September.
  

Australia is the only other country with which South Korea holds the strategically important two-plus-two talks, beside the United States, the statement said.
  

"As a traditionally friendly country and a strategic partner who joined to help fight the Korean War, Australia is further deepening and developing defense cooperation ties with our country through the launch of the two-plus-two defense talks as well as the defense ministers' talks," it said. (Yonhap)