President Lee Jae-myung will attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit and make a state visit to Mongolia starting Sunday. As a NATO non-member, Korea aims to strengthen interoperability aligned with NATO standards to establish a foothold in the world's largest defense market, which accounts for 55% of global defense spending, and to broaden the foundation for critical mineral cooperation with Mongolia.
National Security Office Director Wi Sung-lac said in a Blue House briefing Wednesday that "President Lee will attend the 2026 NATO summit held in Ankara, Türkiye, for two days starting on the 7th, and will then make a state visit to Mongolia from the 9th to the 11th at the invitation of President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh." It marks the first state visit to Mongolia by a sitting Korean president in 15 years.
At the NATO summit, Lee will meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and hold talks with leaders of Indo-Pacific partner countries including Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. He will then deliver a keynote address at the NATO Defense Industry Forum, followed by bilateral meetings with leaders of defense-demand countries. In particular, attention is focused on whether meetings will take place with the leaders of Canada, the ordering country for the Canadian submarine project, and Germany, a competitor, as such talks could provide momentum for defense diplomacy.
"We will promote the excellence of K-defense and its rapid procurement capacity to NATO allies that are increasing defense spending and strengthening their own defense production capabilities," Wi said. "We will also work to establish an institutional foundation so that Korean defense companies can be stably incorporated into the NATO supply chain." He also expressed hope that the visit would serve as an opportunity to expand joint research and development (R&D) cooperation in future warfare fields such as drones and space.
Lee will then arrive in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on the 9th to hold a summit with President Khürelsükh and announce a joint declaration on the "Golden Age of Korea-Mongolia Relations." The two countries will expand cooperation in critical minerals, transportation and logistics, agriculture, and finance, and will also strengthen economic and cultural exchanges through the Korea-Mongolia Business Forum, a meeting with the Korean community, and attendance at the Naadam festival. Wi added that "we will expand New Northern cooperation and jointly seek ways to cooperate for peace on the Korean Peninsula and the resumption of dialogue with North Korea."
