[Anchor]
President Lee Jae-myung, who is attending the NATO summit, has met with U.S. President Donald Trump. This meeting comes three weeks after their encounter at the G7 summit last month, and the two leaders held follow-up discussions regarding the construction of naval vessels.
Here is the report by Kang Min-u.
[Reporter]
President Lee Jae-myung met with U.S. President Donald Trump at an official dinner hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
The two leaders, meeting 21 days after the G7 summit held last month, conducted follow-up discussions on the construction of U.S. naval vessels that was addressed at the time.
The Presidential Office stated that they also recalled their previous agreement to play golf together and discussed arranging a visit to the U.S. and a round of golf at an appropriate time.
Prior to this, in his keynote speech at the NATO Defense Industry Forum, President Lee proposed a new partnership that goes beyond simple arms trading, calling for a framework to "build together and use together."
[President Lee Jae-myung: I propose upgrading to a 'Korea-NATO Defense Industry Partnership 2.0,' where we research, produce, and operate weapon systems together.]
Following a meeting with Secretary General Mark Rutte, negotiations have also begun on a 'Korea-NATO Procurement Agreement' to establish an institutional foundation for South Korean companies to participate in the NATO joint logistics procurement market.
On the second day of the summit, President Lee held a series of meetings with leaders from Norway and Romania, who have maintained defense cooperation with South Korea, as well as the President of Ukraine.
[President Lee Jae-myung: With the current international situation being very unstable, I believe that cooperation and exchange between nations are more important than ever.]
He pledged $100 million in comprehensive support to Ukraine, expressing his intention to join in efforts for peace and reconstruction.
Having presented a new vision for defense industry cooperation at his first NATO summit since taking office, President Lee will now travel to Mongolia to continue his schedule for a state visit, the first in 15 years.
Reported by Ha Ryung | Video by Jang Hyun-ki | Graphics by Choi Jin-hoe | Produced by SBS Digital News
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