President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol met with Australian Ambassador Catherine Raper at the office of the Presidential Transition Committee in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on May 3.
Yoon said, "South Korea and Australia need to further strengthen their joint cooperation to contribute to maintaining international order based on values and norms."
Bae Hyun-jin, spokeswoman of President-elect Yoon, said in a written commentary that Yoon asked Australian Amb. Raper to support cooperation between South Korea and the Quad working group.
In response, Amb. Raper reportedly replied, "Korea and Australia are similar countries that share core values, and they believe there is a lot of room to strengthen cooperation in various fields, and I will do my best as ambassador to Korea."
Yoon paid tribute to some 17,000 Australian troops, including Raper's maternal grandfather, for their youth in the Korean War to protect Korea's liberal democracy, stressing that South Korea and Australia are blood allies, and thanked her.
“We hope the two countries will continue to expand their cooperation in future high-tech industries such as strategic communication and defense cooperation, carbon neutrality, space and cyber, based on long historical solidarity,” Yoon said.
They also discussed various ways to promote bilateral relations between Korea and Australia in diplomatic, business, economic and other fields.
Catherine Raper was appointed Australia's first female Ambassador to the Republic of Korea on Dec. 16, 2020.