AUSTRALIA-2+2 Meeting Sees Step Towards AUKUS Pillar II

The Australian foreign and defence ministers met their South Korean counterparts at a '2+2' meeting in Sydney earlier today, with one of the focal topics being the possibility of South Korea becoming more closely involved in the AUKUS security alliance as a 'Pillar II' partner. Full joint statement can be found here.

• AUKUS exits as a two stage programme. The first pillar is focused on providing Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, and therefore is closed to other nations. However, the second pillar is focused on technology-sharing between allies, and as such there has been talk of bringing Japan, and now potentially South Korea, into the mix.
• SK Defence Minister Shin Won-sik said at a presser that, "During today's meeting we also discussed the possibility of partnering with AUKUS Pillar 2...We support AUKUS Pillar 2 activities and we do welcome that members are considering Korea as an AUKUS Pillar 2 partner."
• The US has strict rules regarding the sharing of military tech, raising concerns in Canberra and London that by bringing in new Pillar II members too quickly it could limit the US' ability to share tech with the UK and Australia.
• However, these concerns may be assuaged by the US State Dep't having relaxed its licensing requirements regarding some miliary tech for the UK and Australia on 30 April. This development could smooth the path for South Korea to join as a pillar II partner and more firmly tie Seoul into the camp of US-aligned nations in the region.