President Lee to Hold South Korea-Turkey Summit Today; Discuss Nuclear Power, Defense Cooperation

State visit to South Korea for the first time in eight years... Cooperation to expand ahead of 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties
Leaders to discuss international issues, including the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East
Special honors include Tae

President Lee Jae-myung will hold a summit with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on November 3 to discuss ways to expand economic cooperation, including in nuclear power and the defense industry. They are also expected to address major international issues, including the situations on the Korean Peninsula and in the Middle East. To welcome President Erdogan, who is making a state visit to Korea for the first time in eight years, the government will hold an official welcoming ceremony, a summit, a state dinner, and a special performance.

President Lee Jae-myung and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands after delivering a joint press statement at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, on the 24th (local time). Nov. 25, 2025. Yonhap News Agency

Presidential spokesperson Kim Seong-wan said in a written briefing that President Lee would welcome President Erdogan and his wife at Cheong Wa Dae that afternoon. The official program will begin with a welcoming ceremony and include a summit, a signing ceremony for memorandums of understanding (MOUs), and a state dinner.

At the summit, the two leaders will review progress on cooperation projects agreed upon during President Lee's state visit to Türkiye in November 2025. They will discuss trade and investment, cooperation in nuclear power and defense, and collaboration in future industries such as biotechnology, energy, and science and technology. Major international issues, including the situations on the Korean Peninsula and in the Middle East, will also be on the agenda.

President Erdogan's state visit to Korea is his first since 2018. The two leaders will meet again about four months after the NATO summit in July 2026. The visit is expected to provide an opportunity to strengthen their strategic partnership ahead of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2027.

The government will display welcome videos and messages on large screens along Sejong-daero in Seoul, as well as at Lotte World Tower and N Seoul Tower. At the official welcoming ceremony, around 70 members of the traditional honor guard and chwita band will escort the motorcade, while around 280 members of honor guards from the three military services will line the route. In a first for an official welcoming ceremony, around 30 members of the Army Taekwondo Demonstration Team, established in January this year, will give a special performance featuring high-level board-breaking demonstrations.

Around 80 prominent figures from both countries will attend the state dinner following the summit. Guests will include Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group; In-hwa Chang, chairman of POSCO Group; and Lee Yong-bae, CEO of Hyundai Rotem. Yang Young-an, a fire captain who helped rescue survivors after the 2023 Türkiye earthquakes, has also been invited.

The dinner menu will feature special Korean dishes combining the culinary traditions of both countries. Dishes will include chilled snow crab with pomegranate, a symbol of hospitality in Türkiye, and halal galbi prepared in the style of kebabs using Korean-style marinated ribs. For dessert, brown rice ice cream made with rice from Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, where Turkish troops played an active role during the Korean War, will recall the countries' ties as “brother nations.”

At the dinner performance, Turkish haegeum player Tam Cevdet and the National Gugak Center's Creative Traditional Music Orchestra will perform a folk song known as “Türkiye's Arirang.” Korean vocal duo Hundu will perform “Champion,” a song that evokes memories of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, among other songs.

The gifts exchanged by the leaders will also carry special meaning. President Lee has prepared a South Korean national basketball team jersey, inscribed with the flags of both countries and “1957,” the year diplomatic relations were established, as well as a gift set of red ginseng for President Erdogan, who enjoys basketball. For Mrs. Erdogan, he will present a celadon tea set in consideration of Türkiye's tea culture and a cookbook by First Lady Kim Hye-kyung titled “Let's Cook Rice.”

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