Yoon Meets Leaders of 7 Countries to Discuss 'Supply Chain' and Promote 'Nuclear Power' (Comprehensive)

Emphasis on Nuclear Power Cooperation Among Leaders Beyond Advanced and Defense Industries
Nonstop Schedule from 11 AM to 6:30 PM on NATO's First Day

President Yoon Suk-yeol, on the first day of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit on the 11th (local time), met with seven allied leaders to focus on expanding cooperation in nuclear power. In particular, he continued his role as a de facto 'salesperson' by not only discussing securing supply chains, one of the key national agenda items of the Yoon administration, but also appealing for support for the '2030 Busan World Expo.'

From 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. that day, President Yoon met sequentially with Jonas Gahr Støre, Prime Minister of Norway; Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands; Ant?nio Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal; Chris Hipkins, Prime Minister of New Zealand; Viktor Orb?n, Prime Minister of Hungary; Klaus Werner Iohannis, President of Romania; and Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister of Sweden, discussing ways to strengthen practical bilateral cooperation and collaboration on the international stage.

Although President Yoon discussed cooperation plans in various fields such as advanced industries, defense industries, infrastructure, and human exchange with each leader, his strategy was essentially close to 'nuclear power' sales. Following Prime Minister Rutte’s visit to Korea last November, bilateral cooperation has been expanding across broad sectors, and President Yoon expressed satisfaction with the Netherlands' willingness to cooperate on nuclear power, pledging to strengthen government-level support and communication.

Nuclear power was also a major agenda item during meetings with the leaders of Hungary, Romania, and Sweden. President Yoon told Prime Minister Orb?n of Hungary, "If Hungary, a powerhouse in basic science, and Korea, a leader in manufacturing and ICT, cooperate, the synergy in technological collaboration will be significant," adding, "Let us expand the scope of bilateral cooperation from promising R&D fields such as bio to nuclear power cooperation including Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)."

To President Iohannis of Romania, he requested attention and support for Korean companies operating locally, directly mentioning that a Korean company was selected as the operator for the tritium removal facility project at the Cernavod? nuclear power plant. In the meeting with Prime Minister Kristersson of Sweden, he evaluated the recent close cooperation between the two countries in advanced industries such as batteries and bio as encouraging, and said, "Since there is great potential for cooperation between the two countries in nuclear power and supply chain sectors as well, let us communicate closely on ways to strengthen cooperation in these related fields."

He also focused on securing supply chains. At the earliest summit meeting during this tour, with Prime Minister Støre of Norway, they discussed renewable energy and supply chain management. In meetings with the leaders of Portugal and New Zealand, they discussed detailed matters such as 'global supply chain value chain alliances with Korean semiconductor companies' and 'utilizing the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) supply chain cooperation mechanisms.'

President Yoon also requested cooperation on the North Korean nuclear issue and North Korean human rights issues in each meeting. Additionally, as the NATO summit is being used as a platform for the '2030 Busan World Expo' bid, he explained the Korean government's vision of aiming to be a solution platform for humanity’s pressing challenges. A presidential office official evaluated, "While the past five to six months of summit diplomacy focused on Western Europe and the Americas, this time it is significant that cooperation on global supply chains was concretized with many countries in Eastern and Northern Europe."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.