South Korea and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperating in the exchange of diplomatic intelligence analyses, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday.

Park Jang-ho, director general for diplomatic intelligence at South Korea's foreign ministry, signed the MOU with Brett Holmgren, US assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research, in Washington on Monday.

The signing came as the allies have been working to establish a framework for collaboration in the exchange of diplomatic intelligence and its analysis.

Enhancing intelligence-related cooperation was part of what the two sides agreed to further strengthen the alliance since last year's summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and US President Joe Biden, the ministry said.

"Through this MOU, the two sides will work together to exchange analysis and techniques on various regional and international situations," the ministry said. "This partnership aims to build an institutional framework for concrete and practical cooperation, such as releasing joint analysis reports on diplomatic situations."

South Korea's foreign ministry revamped its units under a plan announced in March to bolster regional strategies and intelligence gathering.

Under the new organizational structure, a new strategy and intelligence office was created to focus on policy planning and diplomatic intelligence, as well as Korean Peninsula policy and international security. (Yonhap)