Economic and security cooperation with Europe has become more solid… 4 nights 6 days settlement of President Yoon’s visit

In particular, Lithuania, who visited to attend the NATO Summit, strengthened the knot of solidarity as a partner country of NATO, while strengthening international security cooperation through individual bilateral meetings with the leaders of 13 countries, expanding global supply chain cooperation, and hosting the Busan Expo. I tried to promote it, etc.

In Poland, which was a state visit, he received the highest level of courtesy and focused on economic cooperation, such as cooperation in reconstruction of Ukraine, which is expected to be worth more than 1 trillion dollars, investment promotion, additional expansion of defense exports, and participation in the new airport high-speed train project.

Solidify Korea’s position as a de facto partner of NATO

President Yoon’s attendance at this NATO summit is the second time since taking office.

Last year, when we participated as NATO’s first partner country, we preached and mutually confirmed the strengthening of solidarity among free forces. This time, it was meaningful to institutionalize and substantiate cooperation between Korea and NATO allies on the basis of that solidarity.

The Korea-NATO Individualized Partnership Program (ITPP), which President Yoon signed with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on the 11th (local time), is expected to serve as a lever to institutionalize and substantiate cooperation.

Official Dinner for participants of the NATO Summit by the Lithuanian president, July 11, 2023. Location: The Presidential Palace, Vilnius, Lithuania. Office of the President/Official Photographer : Kang Min Seok (Flickr)

ITPP is one step higher than IPCP, which is an individual partnership cooperation program that NATO establishes with partner countries.

The ITPP between Korea and NATO includes ▲dialogue and consultation ▲counter-terrorism cooperation ▲disarmament and nonproliferation ▲emerging technology ▲cyber defense ▲capacity development and interoperability ▲substantive cooperation for interoperability ▲science and technology ▲climate change and security ▲women’s peace and security ▲public It includes 11 areas of cooperation, including diplomacy.

Kim Tae-ho, first deputy director of the Office of National Security, said, “ITPP is a program that sets a common goal for Korea and NATO to strengthen the norm-based international order, sets directions for cooperation in each of 11 areas, and determines cooperation institutions to enhance the effectiveness of cooperation.” Explained.

At the same time, it was decided to expand the sharing of military information between Korea and NATO by joining BICES, which can be called the NATO version of GSOMIA.

At the summit of four partners in the Indo-Pacific region (AP4, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand) hosted by President Yoon, they condemned North Korea’s missile launch and drew a strong will to respond sternly to threats to regional peace and global security.

In Lithuania, President Yoon held a separate bilateral meeting with leaders of 13 countries, including NATO allies, over the past two days to discuss ways to strengthen economic cooperation.

A total of 40 bilateral meetings were held in the five multilateral meetings since President Yoon took office, and sales diplomacy was so great that 13 of them were held at the NATO Summit.

In particular, as 8 out of 13 countries were the first summits since the inauguration of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, it is expected to be a starting point for creating new achievements in the future.

Bilateral talks with 13 countries… Nuclear power plant, defense industry, infrastructure cooperation ‘sales diplomacy’

Choi Sang-mok, senior secretary for economic affairs in the presidential office, introduced the keywords of discussions on economic cooperation with countries on this visit by condensing them into strengthening supply chains, securing new export markets, and cooperation in rebuilding Ukraine.

Regarding strengthening the supply chain, President Yoon strongly requested investment in Korea from ASML, the world’s No.

President Yoon Seok-yeol shakes hands with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda at The Presidential Palace, Vilnius, Lithuania, July 11, 2023
Source: Office of the President (via Flickr)
Official Photographer : Kang Min Seok

Cooperation to strengthen the energy supply chain also produced results. President Yoon decided to strengthen cooperation with Norway, which has strengths in producing, storing and transporting green hydrogen, in hydrogen technology fields such as hydrogen vehicles and offshore wind power fields.

In addition, it was proposed to expand cooperation with Korea in EUREKA, a high-tech joint R&D platform in Europe, and as part of this, it was agreed to cooperate closely with Finland in joint development of 6G technology and establishment of standards.

President Yoon also discussed securing new export markets in Europe. According to Chief Choi, the European leaders who met this time strongly hope for cooperation with Korea in nuclear power, defense, and infrastructure.

First of all, President Yoon explained the excellence of Korean nuclear power plants to the leaders of the Netherlands, Hungary, Romania, and Sweden, who are planning to introduce new nuclear power plants, and proposed nuclear power plant cooperation.

In addition, nuclear power cooperation was proposed at the summit meeting between the UK and Slovakia, where there is a plan to introduce new nuclear power plants.

In the case of Romania, KHNP recently won an order for a tritium removal facility for the Cernavoda nuclear power plant worth KRW 260 billion, and we requested positive consideration for our company’s participation in the future nuclear power plant facility improvement project worth KRW 2.5 trillion.

In Poland, additional introduction of Korean weapons and cooperation in transportation infrastructure development

Regarding the importance of Poland, Choi cited three things: the Polish market, the base for entering the European market, and the Ukrainian reconstruction hub.

Poland has the sixth largest domestic market among the 27 EU countries and has emerged as a key partner in the European region, achieving the largest ever trade volume of US$9 billion with Korea last year. On the occasion of this summit, the two countries signed the ‘Trade and Investment Promotion Framework (TIPF)’ and agreed to more than triple the volume of trade by 2030.

Korea-Poland MOU Singing Ceremony July 13, 2023, Poland Presidential Palace, Warsaw, Poland
Office of the President (Flickr) /Official Photographer : Kang Min Seok

In the field of cooperation in the defense industry and nuclear power plant, there was discussion on Poland’s plan to introduce additional Korean weapons, and it was agreed to actively support cooperation between companies of the two countries for the successful construction of a nuclear power plant in Poland.

In this regard, at the Korea-Poland Business Forum held on the 14th (local time), nuclear power plant-related companies such as Doosan Energies, Hyundai Engineering, and Daewoo E&C signed six MOUs with Polish companies.

Infrastructure cooperation between the two countries is also noteworthy. Poland, the largest beneficiary of 1.8 trillion euros in EU funds, is actively promoting the construction of transportation infrastructure and industrial plants, as well as the modernization of outdated power plants. Korean companies are participating in some of these projects, and infrastructure cooperation is expected to accelerate further with the signing of the ‘Transportation Infrastructure Development Cooperation MOU’ between the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korea and the Ministry of Infrastructure of Poland on the occasion of this visit.

Poland is also worthy of attention as a base for entering the European market. Poland borders seven neighboring countries and is a strategic point connecting East and West Europe, and is emerging as a country that attracts the most attention from global companies.

About 350 Korean companies, focusing on electric vehicle batteries, home appliances, and automobile parts, have established production bases in Poland and are using them as a bridgehead to advance into the European market.

With the MOU between the Korea Battery Association and the Polish Automobile Industry Association on the 14th (local time), battery cooperation between the two countries is expected to further advance.

We will start full-scale support for the reconstruction project in Ukraine.

Above all, with this visit to Poland as an opportunity, cooperation in rebuilding Ukraine is expected to be promoted in earnest. The two heads of state shared the understanding that the two countries can be optimal partners in rebuilding Ukraine.

Through the summit meeting between the two countries and a meeting with Ukrainian reconstruction partners, it was decided to start full-scale support for entering the reconstruction project in Ukraine.

President Yoon, who attended the Korea-Poland Business Forum, mentioned the importance of strengthening cooperation between Korea and Poland, saying, “Poland is the most important cooperative partner for Korea in Central and Eastern Europe,” and that “it will play the most important role in post-war recovery projects.”

In May, Ukraine requested Korean companies to participate in 5,000 reconstruction projects totaling 20 billion dollars. There are also reconstruction projects that Korean companies won on their own without going through the government, and the total scale is expected to be around 32 billion dollars. The total value of the Ukraine reconstruction project secured by the government and the private sector is 52 billion dollars, or 66.4 trillion won in Korean currency.

The Korean government plans to actively cooperate and support reconstruction of Ukraine. “The governments of the two countries agreed to form a Korea-Poland vice-ministerial consultative body starting in September to share information on the reconstruction project in Ukraine and to discover and promote joint projects,” said Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs Choi.

He added, “We plan to set up a Ukraine reconstruction platform in Poland for rapid information exchange and cooperation between the private sector and the government, and open an office in Warsaw to dispatch personnel dedicated to infrastructure.”

It plans to actively promote pilot projects in areas where government support is urgently needed. In this regard, the government is conducting a modular construction pilot project to restore emergency facilities such as schools, housing, and hospitals. It was decided to start establishing a city master plan.

For private-led reconstruction projects, the government plans to form a public-private joint order support group for each project to actively support them, and expand financial support using ODA and the External Economic Cooperation Fund (EDCF).

Chief Choi said, “It is still in the war and reconstruction is in its infancy, but we will prepare for participation in the reconstruction project as meticulously as the Ukrainian government strongly hopes.”