South Korea, Turkey agree to deepen nuclear energy, defence ties

South Korea and Turkey agreed to deepen cooperation in nuclear energy and defence during a summit between their leaders on Tuesday (November 3, 2026) in Seoul.

Turkey’s visiting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a joint news conference that the documents signed on nuclear energy, building on an earlier memorandum of understanding, “will take this cooperation even further”.

The memorandum signed in November 2025 laid the groundwork for cooperation on Turkey’s planned nuclear power plant in Sinop, a project in which South Korean companies are seeking to participate.

The two sides agreed that “cooperation on Turkey’s Sinop nuclear power plant project has been progressing smoothly”, South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung said.

Another memorandum of understanding was signed on Tuesday “on financing cooperation for nuclear power projects to proactively support South Korean companies’ participation”, he added.

On defence, Lee said the two countries had agreed to “deepen defence cooperation by expanding joint production and technological cooperation, while also exploring opportunities for companies from both countries to jointly enter third-country markets”, without elaborating.

Mr. Erdogan, noting Turkey’s interest in South Korean expertise in semiconductors and other technological fields, singled out defence as an area where “our strategic partnership has yielded tangible results”.

“During my meeting with the president, we underlined the need to increase the number of successful joint projects,” Mr. Erdogan said.

He called last year’s nuclear energy deal “an important foundation for our cooperation” in that field.

Bilateral trade between Turkey and South Korea, which signed a free trade agreement that took effect in 2013, reached a record $10.7 billion last year.