Joint Press Statement for the 27th Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense DialogueReadout of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's Call With Estonia's Minister of Defense Hanno[...]

The Republic of Korea (ROK) Ministry of National Defense (MND) and the U.S. Department of War held the 27th Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) on September 23-24, 2025 in Seoul.

Acting Deputy Minister (DEPMIN) for National Defense Policy, Major General Yoon Bong hee, led the ROK delegation. Mr. John Noh, Deputy Assistant Secretary of War (DASW) for East Asia, led the U.S. delegation. Key senior ROK and U.S. defense and foreign affairs officials also participated in the dialogue.

During the meeting, both sides assessed overall defense cooperation to modernize the ROK-U.S. Alliance in a mutually beneficial and future-oriented manner amidst the changing security environment in the region, and conducted in-depth discussions on Alliance issues. In addition, both sides agreed to pursue cooperation for implementing follow-up measures in the area of defense discussed at the ROK-U.S. Summit held this August.

The two sides assessed that this meeting laid the foundation for enhancing bilateral understanding on Alliance issues, deepening and strengthening the Alliance, and pledged to further cooperation going forward.