Collective global action is needed to fight the latest trans-national types of conflicts, including those caused by North Korea's proliferation of nuclear weapons, a U.N. official said Thursday.

"When it comes to trans-national threats, it would be illusory to believe that weakened states ... even strong states would be able to deal with transnational threats alone," Edmond Mulet, assistant secretary general for peacekeeping operations, said during the Seoul Defense Dialogue in central Seoul.

Seoul Defense Dialogue, the only multilateral security session hosted by South Korea, brought together defense officials and security experts from 30 countries and other global bodies.

The nature of conflicts has evolved to take on "trans-state" dimensions, following inter-state Cold War-era conflicts and single-state internal clashes in the 1980s and 1990s, Mulet said.

Drug and human trafficking in Central America and West Africa as well as violent extremist factions such as al-Qaeda or the Islamic State are the latest type of conflicts posing threats to the entire globe, he said.

Another source of transnational threats is posed by North Korea's proliferation of nuclear weapons, Mulet noted. "Eliminating nuclear weapons is a top priority for the United Nations. No other weapon has the potential to inflict such wanton destruction on our world."

Mulet stressed that, "An effective response to today's threat is only collective action, coordinated across regions and globally," calling for global partnership in keeping peace worldwide.

Since its establishment 70 years ago, the U.N. has carried out 71 peacekeeping operations on four continents, 16 of them still active, the assistant secretary-general said.

A total of 120 countries have sent 105,000 uniformed personnel and other equipment to the U.N. missions.

In his opening remarks at the event, Vice Defense Minister Baek Seung-joo said the peace and prosperity South Korea has achieved over the past decades are like a plate that could break easily, as seen through the recent military tension caused by North Korea's land-mine provocation.

Peace and stability in one country or region is closely intertwined with global peace and security because the fast development of information communication technology has narrowed time and space gaps around the globe, the vice minister also said, calling for concerted global efforts to fight global threats. (Yonhap)