South Korea has welcomed the news that the U.S., U.K. and Australia are considering Seoul as a partner for their AUKUS security partnership. 

Seoul expressed its stance in a joint statement from the foreign and defense ministers of South Korea and Australia after their talks in Melbourne on Wednesday. 

In the joint statement issued Thursday, South Korea stated that it welcomed AUKUS countries’ consideration of cooperation with additional partners on Pillar Two advanced capability projects.

The statement also said that the two sides acknowledged that growing strategic alignment supported enhanced defense cooperation both bilaterally and with like-minded partners to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as on the Korean Peninsula.

Pillar One of AUKUS is focused on providing Australia with a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, while Pillar Two aims to jointly develop advanced military technology in the areas of quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

South Korea, as well as Japan, Canada and New Zealand are reportedly being considered for Pillar Two partnership.