South Korea, Turkey to boost nuclear, defense ties

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced plans to enhance cooperation in nuclear energy, defense, and infrastructure during their summit on Tuesday.

The leaders discussed increasing bilateral trade from $11 billion to their previously agreed target of $15 billion and updating their free trade agreement.

Turkey plans to build four nuclear reactors in the northern province of Sinop and four more in the Thrace region, with South Korea competing for contracts in those areas, which are central to Turkey's energy diversification goals.

Lee stated that cooperation on the Sinop nuclear project is progressing smoothly, and Erdogan said South Korea could become a partner in the development of the project.

During Lee's visit to Ankara in 2025, South Korea's Korea Electric Power Corp and Turkey's TUNAS signed a memorandum of understanding on nuclear energy cooperation.

South Korea and Turkey have major defense industries, and Lee said they would pursue joint defense exports to third countries.

Erdogan said the defense industry is one of the primary areas where their strategic partnership has yielded concrete results, and they highlighted the need to increase the number of successful joint projects, such as Firtina howitzers and the Altay tank.

Lee noted Turkey reaffirmed its support for South Korea's policy toward North Korea, and the leaders agreed to coordinate on strategic efforts for peace on the Korean Peninsula.