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South Korea and Australia have agreed to boost defence cooperation, South Korea's defence ministry said.

Korean Defence Minister Lee Yong Soup met with Australian counterpart Richard Marls on the sidelines of the inaugural summit of South Korea and the Pacific Islands in Seoul.

Li expressed the South Korean army's readiness to join the Indo-Pacific Endeavour, an Australian-led multinational military exercise, as well as Australian Defence Forces' activities to eliminate underwater mines in the Pacific.

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The two sides agreed to hold workshops as part of steps to revise a memorandum of understanding signed in 2011 aimed at strengthening cooperation in the defence industry.

Marls also met with South Korean President Yun Sook-yol and the two condemned joint efforts to expand cooperation with Pacific Island countries, a spokesman for the president said.

Last week, South Korea and the EU agreed to engage in a strategic dialogue between their top diplomats to develop a security partnership.