Defense minister departs for Australia, Philippines

Defense Minister Han Min-koo departed for Australia Thursday to attend a joint meeting of the two countries' defense and foreign ministers in Sydney later this week.

The so-called two-plus-two dialogue set for Friday will bring together Han, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and their Aussie counterparts, Kevin Andrews and Julie Bishop, in Sydney.

The event marks South Korea's second biannual two-plus-two meeting with Australia, one of only two partners for the security dialogue platform. The U.S. is the other country.

Separately, Han will hold talks with the Australian defense minister to forge a deal on military education exchanges, the ministry noted.

For the second leg of this two-nation trip, Han will touch down in the Philippines to hold talks with his counterpart, Voltaire Gazmin, and pay a courtesy visit to President Benigno Aquino.

Han is scheduled to return home on Tuesday. (Yonhap)