SINGAPORE - Singapore and South Korea have inked an agreement to enhance judicial cooperation between the courts of both countries.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by Singapore Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and his South Korean counterpart, Chief Justice Kim Myeongsu, in a video conference meeting on Monday (Oct 19).

In a press release, the Supreme Court of Singapore said that the MOU builds on the strong bilateral relationship between the supreme courts of both countries.

The judiciaries of Singapore and South Korea have previously signed two MOUs - one on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of transnational insolvency proceedings, and the other on advancing continuing judicial education.

The signing of the MOU on Monday was the first bilateral meeting between both chief justices conducted entirely online in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was attended by judges and senior officials of the two supreme courts.

Welcoming the inking of the MOU, Chief Justice Menon said that it provides the courts of both countries "an excellent platform for the sharing and exchange of perspectives on topics of mutual interest".

Echoing similar sentiments, Chief Justice Kim said: "By signing this MOU, I hope the Supreme Courts of Korea and Singapore can have mutual exchanges on various information - including court information technology - and expand the scope of substantive areas of cooperation based on friendly relationship."

Following the ceremony, Chief Justice Menon delivered an online lecture to judges from Singapore and Korea on the challenges technology poses to the work of the judiciary.

Among other things, he spoke about the transformative potential of technology in empowering the court "to rethink and re-engineer its model of justice" so that it can better "deliver justice" to its users.