Erdoğan to make state visit to South Korea for first time in 8 years, discuss nuclear power and defense cooperation with Lee

[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung will hold separate summits on the 3rd with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and on the 6th with Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta to discuss ways to expand cooperation between the two countries.
Kang Yoo-jung, senior presidential spokesperson, said in a written briefing on the 1st that President Erdoğan will make a state visit to South Korea from the 2nd to the 4th, while President Horta will make an official visit from the 5th to the 7th at President Lee’s invitation.
President Erdoğan’s state visit to South Korea is his first in eight years, since 2018. He will meet President Lee again about four months after the NATO summit in Ankara this July. The bilateral summit comes about a year after President Lee’s state visit to Türkiye last November.
The two leaders’ schedule on the 3rd will begin with an official welcoming ceremony, followed by a summit, a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony and a state dinner.
At the talks, they will review progress on projects agreed upon last year and discuss trade and investment, cooperation in future industries including nuclear power, defense, bio, energy, and science and technology, and ways to expand people-to-people and cultural exchanges. They will also discuss major international issues, including the situations on the Korean Peninsula and in the Middle East.
Türkiye, a major participant in the Korean War and a NATO member, established diplomatic relations with South Korea in 1957 and a strategic partnership in 2012. The presidential office said it expects the visit, ahead of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year, to help strengthen relations between the two countries.
President Horta’s visit is the first bilateral official visit to South Korea by a Timor-Leste leader since diplomatic ties were established in 2002. The two leaders’ schedule on the morning of the 6th will include a summit and an MOU signing ceremony, followed by an official luncheon and joint press statements.
They are expected to discuss broadly practical cooperation in areas including diplomacy and security, intellectual property, climate change, education and people-to-people exchanges, as well as international issues such as regional affairs.
South Korea has supported peace and development in Timor-Leste through the Sangnoksu Unit’s UN peacekeeping operations (PKO), as well as assistance with election management and development cooperation. Timor-Leste joined ASEAN last year as its 11th member.
The presidential office said President Horta’s visit, ahead of the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year, will help expand practical cooperation between the two countries and advance Korea-ASEAN cooperation.
[email protected] Seong Seok-woo Reporter