Overview
- President Lee returned to Seoul after a 10-day swing through the UAE, Egypt, the G20 in South Africa and Turkey focused on economic and security partnerships.
- Lee and President Erdogan adopted a joint statement and signed MOUs that include a state-operator nuclear cooperation deal covering technology, site evaluation, licensing, financing and business models tied to Turkey’s Sinop project.
- Seoul and Ankara agreed to resume their joint economic committee for the first time in a decade to monitor implementation across energy, defense, biotech and infrastructure.
- The leaders pledged deeper defense-industry cooperation through joint production, technology collaboration and training, citing Turkey’s Altay tank program based on Korean technology.
- Lee reiterated dialogue-based reunification and proposed military talks to clarify the MDL as he balanced ties with China and Japan at the G20, while separate UAE and Egypt stops produced AI, nuclear and infrastructure MOUs including participation in the UAE’s Stargate project.