President Lee Agrees With Singapore Prime Minister to Upgrade FTA: "Cooperation on AI and Nuclear Power"

[Financial News Singapore = Reporter Choi Jong-geun]President Lee Jae Myung, who is paying a State Visit to the Republic of Singapore, held a summit with Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on the 2nd and agreed to launch negotiations to improve the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Korea and Singapore. The two leaders in particular agreed to step up cooperation in future strategic industries, including artificial intelligence (AI) and nuclear power. This summit came four months after their previous meeting in November last year, when Prime Minister Wong visited Seoul. At that time, the two countries upgraded their ties to a "strategic partnership," and this latest meeting further broadens the scope of cooperation.
After the summit, President Lee said at the joint press conference with Prime Minister Wong, "Korea and Singapore have shown remarkable resilience by growing into exemplary middle powers, turning limited resources and geopolitical challenges during the nation-building and modernization processes of the last century into stepping stones for development."
He continued, "The prime minister and I agreed that, as we navigate the new challenges of the 21st century—an era of profound uncertainty—our two countries can be trusted partners." He once again highlighted the strategic partnership that was elevated last November on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
President Lee stated, "We decided to further solidify the economic ties that have driven the development of our bilateral relationship, while accelerating innovation in future high-tech fields such as artificial intelligence and further strengthening the foundation for cooperation in defense and security." He added, "To this end, our two governments adopted one declaration and signed five Memorandums of Understanding (MOU). We will maintain close communication and move these initiatives forward with a strong sense of urgency."
On the same day, Korea and Singapore agreed to further strengthen economic solidarity, economic security cooperation, and strategic investment cooperation, building on their role as leaders of the regional free trade order. As part of this effort, they decided to launch negotiations to upgrade the Free Trade Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Korea and the Government of the Republic of Singapore (Korea-Singapore FTA) and adopted a Joint Declaration.
President Lee explained, "The two of us agreed to improve our FTA, which marks its 20th year in force this year, so that it fully reflects changes in the trade and economic security environment as well as technological advances. We also decided to pursue our close investment cooperation in an even more strategic manner. The investment partnership MOU signed this time between Korea Development Bank (KDB), Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings, and global asset management group Seviola will spearhead this investment cooperation."

The two leaders also agreed to expand comprehensive cooperation in advanced technology and energy security. President Lee said, "Our two countries decided to advance an AI Cooperation Framework to deepen our collaboration on AI." He added, "By expanding joint research and investment in industrial innovation based on Physical AI and in the real-life application of AI, we will secure strong momentum for AI cooperation."
He went on, "We also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Science and Technology Cooperation (MOU) to strengthen collaboration on quantum computers, space, and satellite technologies; an MOU on Joint Utilization of Environmental Satellites (MOU) to share and verify environmental satellite data for air quality research; and an SMR Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly develop business models for small modular reactors (SMR) and share related information." He stressed, "Building on today’s achievements, I hope we will not only further consolidate our existing cooperation in trade, investment, and infrastructure, but also expand the implementation of our cooperation into promising future areas such as artificial intelligence, nuclear power, and cutting-edge science and technology."
He added, "We also agreed to further expand our cooperation in the security field and to continue working together for peace and stability in the region." He noted, "We will broaden the joint research on defense industry technologies that we have been conducting so far and continue to explore ways to strengthen defense capabilities based on advanced technologies."
The two leaders also discussed the recent situation in the Middle East. President Lee said, "We assessed the impact of developments in the Middle East on global security, energy, supply chains, and the world economy, and shared the hope that stability and peace in the Middle East will be restored." He added, "I am confident that this visit will further solidify the friendship and trust between our two countries and that our strategic partnership will advance to an even higher level."

cjk@fnnews.com Choi Jong-geun Reporter