South Korean and Singaporean representatives at the 2019 ADMM-Plus maritime drills. Photo: Gov.sg

Vietnam will take part in multinational maritime drills which will be held in South Korea and Singapore with an aim to strengthen security and defense cooperation for peace, stability, and development in the region.

The exercise is part of efforts to strengthen cooperation within the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), which comprises the 10 Southeast Asian countries as well as Australia, China, Japan, India, South Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the US.

The drills will involve 16 ships, six aircraft and about 700 personnel from the 18 countries, the Straitstimes cited Singapore’s Ministry of Defense.

Participants will conduct a series of professional exchanges ashore, as well as maritime security drills in the waters off South Korea and Singapore.

The dills will cover two parts with the first led by South Korean navy scheduled to take place in Busan, South Korea on April 29-May 2 focusing on rescuing ships captured by armed forces, according to Vnews.

The second part, to be held in Singapore on May 9-13, will put the center on unveiling and handling vessels carrying prohibited goods.

The exercise is the culmination of Singapore and South Korea's co-chairmanship of the ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Group on Maritime Security in 2017-2020.

Under their co-chairmanship, the ADMM-Plus navies agreed in November 2017 to adopt and practice the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea, a confidence-building measure that enhances maritime safety by reducing misunderstandings and preventing miscalculations at sea.

Established in 2010, the ADMM-Plus is the annual platform for practical cooperation among the participating countries’ defense establishments. Hanoitimes