South Korean President Lee Jae Myung held a phone conversation with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Thursday, focusing on strengthening Seoul&rsquo;s collaboration with the transatlantic military alliance, according to the president&rsquo;s office.
The discussion follows a recent agreement between South Korea and NATO to form a working-level consultative body dedicated to defence industry cooperation. The initiative was finalized during a meeting between South Korean National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac and NATO Chief Mark Rutte at the NATO summit in The Hague.
During the meeting, Wi delivered a personal letter from President Lee, explaining his absence from the summit and reaffirming his dedication to deepening South Korea&rsquo;s strategic ties with NATO.
Wi expressed optimism about enhanced cooperation between South Korea and NATO, emphasizing shared democratic values and the need to jointly address evolving global challenges. He also pointed to South Korea&rsquo;s advanced defence manufacturing capabilities as a solid foundation for expanded collaboration in the sector.
As part of the agreement, both sides have committed to launching a new director-general-level consultative body aimed at exploring specific avenues for defence industry cooperation.
On June 25, Wi also participated in a separate session with Secretary General Rutte and officials from NATO&rsquo;s Indo-Pacific partners &mdash; Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. The discussions focused on strengthening collaboration in critical areas including supply chain security, defence technology development, joint production and procurement, and future cooperation in space and maritime security, as well as munitions projects. [Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by the Benefit News editorial team and is published directly from the IANS news feed]

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung held talks with Mark Rutte

President Lee, NATO chief agree on deeper cooperation and new defence industry consultative body

South Korea, NATO to Boost Defence Ties

President Lee, NATO chief agree on deeper cooperation and new defence industry consultative body

July 4, 2025 | 11:08 IST