South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration and NATO held their second defense industry consultative meeting Monday, discussing ways to expand cooperation in areas including interoperability, ammunition and space projects, according to DAPA.
The meeting, held at the Government Complex Gwacheon in Gyeonggi Province, was jointly led by DAPA’s international cooperation chief and NATO Assistant Secretary-General for Defense Investment Tarja Jaakkola.
The consultative body was launched following an agreement reached at the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands, where South Korea and NATO agreed to establish a working-level channel to explore defense industrial cooperation. The first meeting was held at NATO headquarters in Brussels in September.
During Monday’s talks, the two sides shared information on potential areas of cooperation and discussed ways to strengthen defense industrial ties.
South Korea emphasized that access to NATO standardization information is essential for domestic defense firms seeking to improve interoperability with NATO systems, an issue that has become increasingly important as Seoul pushes to expand arms exports to Europe.
NATO, for its part, asked South Korea to participate in multinational cooperation projects being pursued by NATO member states in areas including ammunition and space.
Ahead of the meeting, DAPA Minister Lee Yong-cheol met with Jaakkola and welcomed the NATO delegation’s visit to South Korea.
“South Korea will continue to seek mutually beneficial defense industrial cooperation with NATO and hopes to establish itself as a reliable IP4 partner,” Lee said in a statement, referring to the four Indo-Pacific partners cooperating with NATO — South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Lee also said security in the Indo-Pacific and NATO’s security have become increasingly interconnected following the Russia-Ukraine war, adding that Seoul would continue close communication with NATO to further develop bilateral defense cooperation.
The visit by the NATO delegation follows an earlier trip in April by ambassadors from 30 NATO member states, who visited South Korea to review Seoul-NATO defense cooperation and tour major South Korean defense firms including HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Aerospace.
DAPA said the series of exchanges reflects NATO’s growing interest in expanding defense cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners amid the evolving global security environment.
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