A delegation from the General Secretariat of Defense and the Directorate of National Armaments participated in Seoul Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX) 2023, which took place from 17 to 22 October in the capital of the northeast Asian republic.
The Segredifesa delegation, chaired by Army Corps General Luciano Portolano, general secretary of Defense and national director of armaments, held fruitful and cordial institutional meetings with representatives of the host country in order to strengthen the partnership with South Korea Furthermore, the occasion was propitious to demonstrate the closeness and support of the Italian institutions to our industries in the aerospace, defense and security sectors present.
During the opening days, General Portolano met General Kim Seung-Kium, Chief of Staff of the Korean Defense, Minister Eom Donghwan, Chief of Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), government agency counterpart of Segredifesa, Gen. Jung Sanghwa, Chief of Staff of the Air Force and former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, with whom General Portolano collaborated in 2014-2016 as head of mission and commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanonn (UNIFIL).
The meetings made it possible to comment on the main security topics relating to the situation in Ukraine, Israel and the Middle East in general, to present the respective national organisations, focusing on the strategic vision of their Defenses in the areas of strategic interest, as part of the processes aimed at guarantee security and stability in the Asian quadrant.
General Portolano assured Italy's full availability to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the sector with South Korea, in a modality Government-to-Government (G2G), through the analysis of appropriate and quality solutions that can be presented by Italian companies.
During the event, particular importance was given to the formalization of the technical agreement in the field of government quality assurance for defense materials and services, which is part of the broader agreement between the Italian government and that of the Republic of Korea on cooperation in the defense sector and is aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries. For Italy, the agreement was signed by Dr. Luisa Riccardi, as pro-tempore director of the V department technological innovation of the secretariat.
Over 53 official delegations from all over the world participated in the recently concluded Adex edition with more than 550 aircraft and exhibition stands. Fincantieri Nextech, Leonardo, Elettronica and Thales Alenia Space – Italy are the Italian businesses in the sector present.
