The South Korean and Colombian defense chiefs held talks on Wednesday to discuss regional security situations and signed an agreement to deepen bilateral defense ties, Seoul's defense ministry said.

During the meeting in Seoul, South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his Colombian counterpart Juan Carlos Pinzon "exchanged opinions on regional security circumstances, including on the Korean Peninsula, and discussed ways to develop cooperative ties in military and defense industry fields such as cyber security," according to the ministry.

Pinzon arrived here on Tuesday for a three-day visit. He is then scheduled to head to Japan before returning home.

Following the meeting, the two chiefs signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on defense cooperation, according to the ministry.

"The scope of cooperation will include intelligence sharing, research and development, personnel exchanges, humanitarian assistance and technology on military equipment and maintenance," the ministry said in a statement. "The agreement will be valid for the next five years."

As South Korea's long-time ally, Colombia is the sole South American nation that participated in the 1950-53 Korean War. Of its 5,314 troops who fought for the Asian ally, 143 soldiers were killed and 69 went missing, according to Seoul government data.

The two nations signed a bilateral arrangement on sharing sensitive military intelligence in June 2011.

"Today's meeting will serve as an opportunity for the two nations to deepen their defense and security cooperation and to further boost the overall friendly relations," the ministry said. (Yonhap)