Source: NATO
Good morning from the NATO Headquarters in Brussels. And thank you so much to Governor Oh and the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity for inviting me to address you today.
This Forum offers a unique platform for dialogue, and I understand you will celebrate the 20th edition of the Forum next year, so congratulations!
I have had the pleasure to visit South Korea several times. And I was last in Seoul early in 2023, but it is a first for me – and for NATO – to participate in this important Forum. Demonstrating once more the important and ever growing ties between the North Atlantic Alliance and the Indo-Pacific region.
These ties matter today more than ever. We live in a dangerous world. Russia’s war against Ukraine rages on, thanks in large part to the support Moscow gets from Beijing, Pyongyang, Tehran and others. At the same time, there is war in the Middle East. And threats from terrorism to cyber-attacks, nuclear proliferation and climate change persist.
Our security – from the Euro-Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific – is at stake. We see active attempts by states to tear up the rules-based international order which has benefitted us all, for decades. This affects us all, also in your region – which is such a hub for so much of the world’s trade.
NATO is playing its part to preserve peace, as we have done for seventy-five years. Initially with only 12 members, now, we are 32 countries working hand-in-hand to promote freedom and protect our one billion people throughout the Euro-Atlantic area. Together, we represent half of the world’s military and half of the world’s economic might, making NATO the world’s most successful security alliance ever.
Yet, preserving peace is not a job NATO can do alone. The challenges we face are global. They require a global response. For this reason, NATO is working ever more closely with partners around the world, including countries in your region. South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are NATO’s closest partners. With you and others in the Indo-Pacific, we must ensure states live up to the international commitments they have made. And we share a wish for peace and prosperity.
This is why we collectively support Ukraine and condemn Russia’s brutal war. We cannot let Putin have it his way. If he wins in Ukraine, it will embolden him to press ahead. And it will embolden others to use force to achieve their goals, making the world even more dangerous, including in Asia.
NATO is also deepening our cooperation with our Indo-Pacific partners in several practical areas, including to make cyber-space safer, to counter disinformation, and to ensure emerging technologies work for us, not against us. At the same time, we are strengthening our political dialogue on security issues of common concern.
I was honoured to welcome President Yoon Suk Yeol at the NATO Summit in Vilnius last year, together with the leaders of Australia, Japan and New Zealand. And I invited them, once again, to take part in the upcoming NATO Summit in Washington D.C this July. Our growing ties send a powerful signal at a critical time: when countries like Russia try to rip up the global rules and laws, we stand united and strong to protect our way of life and prosperity. Prevent war, and preserve peace.
Thank you so much.