President Lee deepens NATO ties as Seoul targets European arms market

Korean President Lee Jae Myung's attendance at this week's NATO summit marks a milestone in Seoul's accelerating efforts to expand arms exports to NATO members as Europe increases defense spending, analysts noted Saturday.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Lee attended the NATO summit in Ankara as one of the alliance's four Asia-Pacific partners, marking his first appearance at NATO's annual top-level gathering.

With Lee meeting NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the first day, Korea and NATO agreed to begin negotiations on a Korea-NATO procurement framework agreement.

At a NATO summit defense industry forum the same day, Lee proposed elevating Korea-NATO defense cooperation to a "Korea-NATO Defense Industry Partnership 2.0" to expand cooperation beyond weapons-system transactions to joint research, production and operations in the defense sector.

The steps would help Korea secure "a stepping stone to gain greater access to NATO's defense industry, the world's biggest defense market and establish defense industry supply chains with the alliance," National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said earlier.

A procurement framework is a structured, long-term agreement between buyers and suppliers that sets the terms, conditions and pricing for repeated purchases. Its signing is expected to establish a structure that will provide Korean defense firms with access to NATO's collective defense procurement market, valued at 15 trillion won (US$10 billion), according to Wi.

Korea and NATO's pursuit of such an agreement comes as Europe steps up defense spending to address growing security challenges stemming from the Russo-Ukraine war, now in its fifth year, and U.S. President Donald Trump's calls for increased contributions to the alliance.

Korean military systems have emerged as a key resource for NATO countries, which are expected to make historic increases in defense spending to upgrade their arsenal.

Combined arms imports by 29 European NATO members grew 143 percent between the 2016-2020 period and the 2021-2025 period, with the U.S. accounting for 58 percent of those imports, followed by Korea at 8.6 percent, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The total value of defense contracts awarded to Korean firms by NATO's European members between 2022 and August 2025 came to $24.26 billion, according to data from Korea's International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Defense collaboration has emerged as the cornerstone of Seoul's relations with Poland in particular.

In 2022, Poland signed a $44.2 billion framework agreement to purchase K2 tanks, K9 self-propelled howitzers, FA-50 light attack aircraft and Chunmoo multiple rocket launch systems.

In December, Poland signed a 5.6 trillion-won ($3.7 billion) contract with Korean defense firm Hanwha Aerospace to acquire additional Chunmoo batteries.

Adding to such efforts to expand defense exports to Europe, Korea also discussed joining NATO's defense industry standardization efforts during the NATO summit, with Lee pointing out differences in production methods and industrial practices among countries.

"It would be important to unify their standards," Lee said at the defense industry forum.

Lee Chung-min, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, cited standardization as a major requirement for Korea to become a longtime NATO defense trade partner.

"If Korea plans to be a major non-NATO partner for the long haul, it has to significantly increase the 'Europeanization' of its defense exports so that they meet European Union and NATO defense and interoperability standards," Lee said in a recent report.

Korea's efforts may also have to include direct foreign investment in EU members' defense sectors, including relevant technology transfers and offset requirements, while supporting Europe's defense research and development, he noted.

Earlier this week, Canada named Germany's Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems a preferred bidder for its massive submarine project, said to be worth 60 trillion won, over a Korean consortium.

Many have noted that the North American country may have prioritized interoperability with other NATO allies, among other factors.

"From Canada's perspective, if the performance of the submarines is not significantly different, it may also prioritize interoperability within NATO, as well as its relationships with trans-Atlantic allies," a Seoul-based defense industry official has said.

In a summit with Romanian President Nicusor Dan on Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Lee stressed that Korea's defense cooperation with NATO members should go beyond arms exports to include joint defense production and development.

"[Korea] is focusing on pursuing substantive cooperation, such as joint development and production, as well as joint expansion to the third-world [markets], rather than remaining in a transactional relationship centered on buying and selling products," he said.

Apparently demonstrating Seoul's commitment to European efforts to maintain regional peace and security, Lee promised to provide $100 million worth of nonlethal assistance to Ukraine in a bilateral meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart on the sidelines of the NATO summit.

Yonhap