The defense chiefs of South Korea and Finland held talks in Seoul on Thursday to enhance bilateral defense relations, military officials said.

Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his Finnish counterpart Jussi Niinistö discussed measures to promote military exchanges and defense industry cooperation, the defense ministry said in a statement.

Finnish counterpart Jussi Niinistö (Defense Ministry)

"He asked Finland to join the international community's efforts to put pressure on the North through sanctions and other means," a ministry spokesman said.

Finland had announced statements criticizing North Korea's fourth and fifth nuclear tests in January and September and a series of missile launches last year.

It was the first defense chiefs' meeting between Seoul and Helsinki since July 1994.

Separately, the Finnish minister plans to sign a deal with the state defense acquisition agency later in the day to purchase 48 K-9 self-propelled howitzers for 191.5 billion won ($168 million). The delivery is scheduled to be completed by 2025, it said.

"The 48 K-9s have been used by the South Korean Army for 10 years and now will be shipped to the Finnish military. They will undergo a full-scale upgrade work in Finland before deployment," an official at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said.

Finland is the third country to purchase the Korean-made K-9s after Turkey and Poland, the statement said. (Yonhap)