Jens Stoltenberg who is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Sunday for a two-day stay to meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol and other South Korean government officials in an interview the Yonhap said, "The most important message is that I strongly believe that we need to strengthen the partnership between Korea and NATO because security becomes more and more interconnected. What happens in Asia, the Indo-Pacific, matters for Europe and NATO, and vice versa."
"China is investing heavily in new modern military capabilities -- long-range missiles that can reach all NATO territory -- and is significantly and rapidly expanding their nuclear capabilities," he said.
Stoltenberg said that NATO will remain the "regional alliance of North America and Europe," but stressed that "our region is affected by global threats and challenges beyond our region."
"We need to address these global threats and challenges, including the challenges coming from China, and one way of doing that is, of course, to work more closely with partners in the region," he claimed.
MNA/PR