South Korean President Lee Jae Myung spoke at the joint press conference held after his one-on-one and inter-delegation meeting with President Erdoğan at the Presidential Palace in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
Expressing his pleasure in hosting President Erdoğan and his accompanying delegation, Lee said, "Türkiye is our blood brother in the hearts of our people, that is, our brother to whom we are connected by blood." he said.
Emphasizing that the South Korean people owe the freedom and peace environment they enjoy today to approximately 20 thousand Turkish soldiers who fought alongside the Korean people in the Korean War, Lee respectfully commemorated the sacrifices made by Turkish soldiers during the war.
Lee said, "Today, together with Mr. President Erdogan, we agreed to expand our cooperation on the basis of deep friendship and trust established through blood." he said.
Stating that they evaluated the progress made in the implementation of the agreements reached in November 2025 during their meeting with Erdoğan, Lee stated that they discussed ways to further deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries.
Lee stated that they agreed to strengthen concrete cooperation in strategic areas such as nuclear energy, defense industry and ALTAY tank project.
Noting that the cooperation for the nuclear power plant project in Türkiye is progressing smoothly, Lee said, "We took these results forward and signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation on Nuclear Power Project Financing." he said.
Lee pointed out that cooperation in the field of defense industry has developed steadily since the summit held last year, and reminded that the defense industry and logistics joint committee met in July.
Noting that they signed the letter of intent for cooperation on military ships in September, Lee emphasized that they are gradually expanding cooperation with such steps.
Lee said, "We decided to deepen defense industry cooperation by increasing joint production and technology cooperation and looking for ways for companies from the two countries to expand to third countries together." made his assessment.
Stating that cooperation has improved with the memorandum of understanding on road infrastructure signed between the two countries last year, Lee stated that they will expand cooperation with the new transportation and connectivity memorandum.
"We will increase investment and stability based on mutual benefit and strengthening economic cooperation," Lee said. He made a statement.
Reminding that the trade volume between Turkey and South Korea exceeded 10 billion dollars for the first time in 2023, Lee said, "(Turkey-South Korea trade volume) broke a record with 10 billion 700 million dollars last year, since the establishment of diplomatic relations." he said.
Lee said, "We will continue our efforts to solve the trade imbalance, the import restrictive measure and the delays in customs procedures one by one and provide a more stable operating environment for the companies of the two countries. We also decided to continue the cooperation between our governments to solve the problems of our compatriots in obtaining work permits." he said.
On the other hand, Lee stated that they will expand their cooperation in areas such as biotechnology, energy, science and technology, natural resources and mining, and said that they will work to ensure that the work on establishing a plasma-based drug production facility in Türkiye, in cooperation with South Korean SK Plasma, continues without disruption.
Lee stated that they decided to establish the "South Korea-Turkey Energy Transformation Forum" on the basis of the "Memorandum of Understanding on Strengthening Cooperation in the Field of Energy" signed within the scope of this summit and to expand the basis for cooperation in clean energy, hydrogen and renewable energy.
Lee stated that with the newly signed "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Fields of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI)", they decided to strengthen cooperation in artificial intelligence, advanced communication and advanced materials, and to convene the bilateral Science and Technology Joint Committee for the first time.
Pointing out that the signing of the "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Natural Resources and Mining" is an important achievement, Lee stated that they will strive to diversify critical mineral supply chains by establishing an intergovernmental cooperation channel and expanding the bilateral technology and investment cooperation basis.
Pointing out that he will strengthen strategic coordination for the restoration of peace and international stability on the Korean Peninsula, Lee said that today's meeting reaffirmed the Turkish government's stable support for South Korea's policy towards North Korea.
Stating that they decided to cooperate to restore peace on the Korean Peninsula, Lee stated that, as medium-sized powers that embrace the rules-based international order, they will expand coordination in multilateral platforms such as the United Nations, G20 and MIKTA (Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, Australia).
Lee noted that they also discussed major international issues with President Erdoğan, such as the Russia-Ukraine War and the situation in the Middle East, and decided to continue close communication and cooperation for the peaceful resolution of conflicts and the restoration of regional stability.
Emphasizing that today's summit confirms strong friendship and trust and will be recorded as an important turning point that carries Turkey-South Korea relations to a new future, Lee said that they will work closely with President Erdoğan, fully implement today's agreements and achieve concrete results.
Lee expressed his hope to establish a more prosperous future together with our sister country Türkiye.
