Defense Minister Shin Won-sik met representatives of eight member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Wednesday to expand cooperation in security and the defense industry, the defense ministry said.

Shin held the meeting with the NATO representatives of the United States, Britain, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Romania and Poland, who began a three-day visit to Seoul earlier in the day.

Their rare visit to South Korea, which is not a NATO member state, is seen as part of NATO's efforts to bolster regional security cooperation with South Korea in the Indo-Pacific, after President Yoon Suk Yeol's consecutive participation in two NATO summits last year and this year.

During the meeting, Shin explained the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and shared the consensus that the international community's coordination is necessary to deter and respond to North Korea's provocations, according to the ministry.

"The forces threatening South Korea, including North Korea, will face resolute responses not only from the South Korea-US alliance but also from the international community, including NATO," Shin was quoted as saying.