• South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will attend the NATO summit in Ankara to expand cooperation in the defence industry with member states of the military alliance.
• South Korea's defence industry has become one of the most important alternative arms suppliers for European states since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• South Korea, not a full NATO member, is one of NATO's most important partner states in the Indo-Pacific region alongside Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will attend the NATO summit next week in the Turkish capital Ankara, where he plans to expand cooperation in the defence industry with member states of the military alliance, his national security adviser confirmed on Friday.

Adviser Wi Sung Lac said at a press conference that security in Europe and Asia was interconnected, citing the example of North Korea, which sent about 15,000 soldiers to support Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Since the full-scale Russian invasion of its neighbour, South Korea's defence industry has become one of the most important alternative arms suppliers for European states. Poland is the largest buyer of South Korean weapons.

South Korea is not a full NATO member but, alongside Japan, Australia and New Zealand, is one of NATO's most important partner states in the Indo-Pacific region.

For President Lee, the summit in Ankara - which begins on Tuesday - will be his first in-person attendance at a NATO summit. At last year's NATO summit in the Netherlands, Lee was represented at short notice by a stand-in.