Military technology, partnerships key components at POST Conference
FORUM Staff
The need to rapidly advance military technology was a leading refrain at the Pacific Operational Science & Technology (POST) Conference in early March 2025.
“The priority here is not just developing military technology but to do it in a way that can be expedited and transitioned rapidly,” said Choi Jang sik, director general of South Korea’s Advanced Force Planning Bureau at the Ministry of National Defense.
“The understanding is that delaying these developments could lead to countries getting behind the competition,” he said.
Choi, a first-time conference attendee, said he would brief other participants on the importance of cooperation.
“I hope to share the Korean perspective on this, in part, how important cutting-edge and advanced technology is and how valuable and critical cooperation among different countries is,” he told FORUM. “Korea cannot do this alone. Korea must and will cooperate with other nations to resolve and respond to common threats.”
The four-day conference included panel discussions, workshops, networking sessions and technology demonstrations for military, government and industry representatives. The aim is to better understand and address operational challenges in the Indo-Pacific. With about 2,400 participants from 16 countries, the 2025 conference was the largest yet. The annual event in Hawaii is sponsored by the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) and the National Defense Industry Association.
U.S. Navy Adm. Samuel J. Paparo, Commander of USINDOPACOM, delivered the keynote address. Other speakers included Dr. Seong Tae Jeong, chief technology officer of the Advanced Defense S&T Research Institute at South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development, and Robert Stephenson, requirements and resources director at USINDOPACOM.
“Being here in the Pacific, in the actual theater, I think that’s really important,” Sally Garrett, the New Zealand Defence Force’s division chief for science and technology delivery for information warfare, told FORUM. “It’s important that we’re meeting in the place where we ought to operate together.”
Lt. Col. Christian Tupou, component commander of Tonga’s Land Force, said events such as POST and the annual Land Forces Pacific symposium, also held in Hawaii, allow his nation to continuously foster and maintain trust with the U.S. and other defense partners. Sharing knowledge with other countries is valuable, he said during a panel discussion.
Choi agreed face-to-face interactions are vital for building partnerships.
“The conference provided a lot of opportunities to really increase and strengthen the trust between these Allies and Partners, allowing countries to mingle, discuss and meet in person,” he said. “This helps figure out and identify pathways to strengthen commercial and national defense partnerships. We believe these are windows of opportunities to further strengthen and build trust among nations.”
