Lee says Korea hopes to expand cooperation with Romania beyond defense sector

President Lee Jae Myung held a summit with Romanian President Nicusor Dan on Wednesday and said Seoul seeks to expand bilateral cooperation beyond the defense industry.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, where Lee attended as the leader of one of the alliance's partner countries.

Lee described Romania as "an important partner of cooperation" for Korea, saying the two countries have seen growing cooperation in trade and the defense industry.

"We are placing emphasis on the fact that substantive cooperation is taking place in the defense industry [between the countries], with joint development and production and expansion into third-country [markets]," Lee said.

Lee said Seoul seeks to expand such cooperation beyond the defense industry into other sectors, including nuclear power, and also invited Dan to visit Korea.

Dan highlighted a Romanian defense project involving Korea's Hanwha Group, as well as nuclear power plant refurbishment projects in Romania involving Korean companies.

He said the two countries would have new opportunities to expand economic cooperation and invited Lee to visit Romania.

Yonhap