The defense chiefs of South Korea and Romania held talks Friday over arms industry cooperation, regional security and other issues, Seoul's defense ministry said.

Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup met his Romanian counterpart Angel Tilvar in Seoul as the latter arrived here earlier this week with a delegation at the invitation of National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo.

During the meeting, Lee noted the two countries have developed friendly, cooperative ties since the establishment of a "strategic partnership" in 2008 and expressed hopes for Tilvar's visit to strengthen bilateral defense cooperation.

Tilvar expressed hopes for continued expansion of defense cooperation in such areas as military information exchanges and education, as well as interest in arms industry cooperation, according to the ministry.

The ministers agreed to work toward signing a bilateral defense cooperation agreement based on a revised letter of intent the two sides signed in September to promote defense cooperation, it said.

They also shared the view on the need for continued support for Ukraine that has been striving to repel Russia's aggression since its invasion in February.

Tilvar previously visited South Korea in September to attend DX Korea 2022, a biennial international defense exhibition. (Yonhap)