Ahn Ho-young

The 13th Seoul Defense Dialogue was held in Seoul from Sept. 11 to 12. More than 60 countries participated in the dialogue at the ministerial or vice ministerial level. A large number of important issues for international security were discussed during the two days. One of the issues discussed at the plenary session was defense innovation, for which representatives of the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany participated. I had an opportunity to moderate the session.

Successive Korean governments have pursued defense innovation as a top priority without exception. I was thus curious about the perspectives that the highest defense leaders of the three countries hold on the subject. My curiosity was deepened because of the fact that those three countries have played a determining role for issues of war and peace over the past 100 years.

The first question I raised with them was why ministers consider defense innovation an important issue in today’s context. There were many common denominators in their answers. The predominant concern of the ministers was that the rules-based international order now faces many challenges around the world, a prominent example being the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Their second concern was the development of technology and its application to weapons, including drones, other........

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