Korea and NATO Agree to Open Defense Procurement Pact Talks for $9.9B Market

On the sidelines of the July 7–8 NATO summit in Ankara, President Lee Jae Myung and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte agreed to begin negotiations on a defense procurement pact that would open the alliance's roughly 15 trillion won ($9.9 billion) annual defense market to Korean companies. The agreement sets out the legal and administrative framework for defense and munitions cooperation and procurement contracts between NATO and partner countries, allowing Korean firms to move beyond bilateral deals with individual allies toward alliance-wide procurement. Korea also newly joined as an observer in NATO's defense industry and raw materials programs, having previously observed only the munitions and space programs. Lee proposed a “Korea–NATO Defence Industry Partnership 2.0” to shift cooperation toward joint research, co-development, and long-term industrial co-production.