Yoon, Korea-Peru Summit Meeting... "Strengthening Cooperation in Defense Industry and Supply Chains"

Meeting in San Francisco during APEC Summit
Sales Diplomacy for FA-50 and Wheeled Armored Vehicles

President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea and President Dina Boluarte of Peru, who are visiting San Francisco, USA, to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, agreed on the 16th (local time) to strengthen cooperation in various fields including defense industry, supply chains, development cooperation, and infrastructure.

On the 16th (local time), President Yoon held his first summit meeting with President Boluarte at a hotel in downtown San Francisco, reaffirming that the two countries are comprehensive strategic partners sharing core values, according to the Blue House. This year marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and this summit is the first in eight years since 2015.

President Yoon said, "It is very meaningful to hold a summit meeting on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries," and evaluated Peru as "a traditional ally sharing core values with the Republic of Korea and a key cooperation partner in Latin America."

He added, "Since the Korea-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) came into effect in 2011, the volume of trade has continued to expand, and I am pleased that the two countries have developed a comprehensive strategic partnership."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is guiding Peruvian President Dina Boluarte to their seats after taking a commemorative photo at the Korea-Peru summit held at a hotel in San Francisco, USA, on the 16th (local time). [Image source=Yonhap News]

He also engaged in sales diplomacy regarding defense industry, supply chains, and infrastructure. President Yoon said, "I understand that the Peruvian government is promoting projects to introduce wheeled armored vehicles and new fighter jets," and requested Peru's interest and support for Korean companies' armored vehicles and the FA-50 (light combat aircraft), which have proven their excellence.

President Yoon also expressed hope to further expand mineral cooperation with Peru, which is rich in copper, silver, and zinc, and requested support for Busan's hosting of the 2030 World Expo.

President Boluarte responded, "We hope that defense cooperation with Korea, which possesses high-level defense technologies such as the KT-1P basic trainer and multipurpose support ships, will continue to develop," and added, "We also expect active participation of Korean companies in various infrastructure projects under review in Peru."

She especially emphasized, "We hope that the two countries will cooperate together on multilateral and bilateral levels next year, and we look forward to enhanced cooperation in the private sectors of both countries," and stressed, "We expect digital and AI (artificial intelligence) cooperation between the two countries to be further strengthened under bilateral agreements."

President Boluarte expressed strong support for Korea's associate membership in the Pacific Alliance (PA), and President Yoon expressed his gratitude. The PA is an economic bloc in the Latin American region, and Korea is pursuing associate membership.

Since Peru and Korea will serve as APEC chair countries in 2024 and 2025 respectively, the two leaders also discussed related cooperation. President Yoon stated, "Next year, Peru will serve as the APEC chair, followed by Korea the year after, and we look forward to close cooperation between the two countries so that APEC can contribute to regional prosperity and sustainable growth."

President Boluarte replied, "We thank the Korean government for trusting our government to host APEC for the third time in 2024. At the end of 2024, we plan to hand over the APEC chairmanship to Korea for 2025."

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