President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday private and state-run weapons developers should boost research and development cooperation to come up with "source technologies" that will beef up South Korea's defense against the communist North.

Lee made the remark during a meeting with private and state defense firms, stressing the importance of the defense industry to South Korea as it faces the North across one of the world's most heavily fortified borders, according to presidential spokesman Park Jeong-ha.

"We should seek to develop the defense industry with a mindset to strengthen the basic science of the Republic of Korea. As it is time for us to have unique technologies of our own, we should have new source technologies. That's why civilian-military R&D cooperation is necessary," Lee said during the meeting.

"When it comes to the defense industry, the Republic of Korea is in a different situation from any other nation. It is not just an industry. We have the unwavering goal of national defense," Lee said, according to the spokesman. (Yonhap)