President Lee Jae Myung attended the NATO summit in Ankara and agreed with the alliance to begin negotiations on a procurement framework agreement.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, President Lee Jae Myung attended the NATO summit in Ankara as one of the alliance's four Asia-Pacific partners. It marked his first appearance at the annual gathering.
Lee met NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and agreed to start negotiations on a South Korea-NATO procurement framework agreement. At a defense industry forum the same day, he proposed elevating cooperation to a Korea-NATO Defense Industry Partnership 2.0.
National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said the framework would give South Korean firms access to a NATO defense procurement market valued at 15 trillion won. Lee also pledged $100 million in non-lethal assistance to Ukraine.
