South Korea strengthened military ties with Australia as the two nations formally agreed on Wednesday conduct more joint exercises.

The agreement was sealed while South Korean Defence Minister Gen. Kim Kwan-jin made a stop in Canberra this week to meet his Australian counterpart, Defence Minister Stephen Smith.

In a joint statement, they declared: "We are natural security partners, and we will continue to look for new opportunities to deepen our defence cooperation."

"Australia and the Republic of Korea are like-minded middle powers, and our bilateral relationship is underpinned by shared strategic interests," the ministers said in a statement reported by the Associated Press.

Like us on Facebook

Smith and his South Korean counterpart added that with the deal in place, joint exercises would be held more frequently with the aim of maintaining the balance of power in the region.

Further discussions between top Australian and South Korean officials should yield policies to address the two countries' strategic concerns, both political and economic, the statement said.

Closer military cooperation is also embodied in the agreement, which officials said should pave the way for deepening collaboration in intelligence gathering and sharing as well as trade in military goods.

For her part, Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who met with the South Korean defence head in Sydney on Wednesday, has affirmed that Australia is labouring to improve its military cooperation with Seoul.

Gillard noted that she and President Lee Myung-bak pledged in April to conduct a yearly dialogue to strengthen the military ties of the two countries.

The military deal was revealed following the earlier pact announced by U.S. President Barack Obama during his state visit to Australia, which allows the United States to station some 2,500 U.S. Marines in Darwin, on the north coast.

America's action is seen as a move to contain the perceived growing dominance of China in the Asia-Pacific while the planned joint exercise of Australia and South Korea is a way of serving notice to North Korea that regional powers are monitoring its movements.

Japan announced this week the likely acquisition of new combat planes for its air force, which experts said  serves as a counter-balance against China.

To contact the editor, e-mail: