US, South Korean Officials Sign Agreement Facilitating Delivery of Defense Goods and Services

The United States and South Korea signed an agreement to improve security supply chains.

William LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment and a previous Potomac Officers Club event speaker, and Eom Dong-hwan, minister for South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration, signed the Security of Supply Arrangement during a Defense Technological Industrial Cooperation Committee meeting on Friday. SOSA allows both governments to request priority delivery of defense-related goods and services to each other following the completion of administrative procedures.

During the meeting, LaPlante and Eom also talked about collaborative research and development efforts in key technology areas and trade barrier removal for arms exports through the Reciprocal Defense Procurement-Agreement, Yonhap News Agency reported Monday.

The SOSA signing follows the third South Korea-U.S. ICT Cooperation Committee meeting held in late June, where Department of Defense Chief Information Officer John Sherman and South Korean Ministry of National Defense Chief of Planning and Coordination Kang Wan-gu talked about strengthening cooperation in defense sector information and communication technologies.