Also at the center of the EU-South Korea summit is Safe – the Security Action for Europe program to finance defense and security expenditures.
The European Union and South Korea are preparing to strengthen their cooperation in the technological, industrial, and defense sectors. Today in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa are hosting South Korean President Lee Jae Myung for the first bilateral summit in three years. On the table are economic security, the semiconductor supply chain, and digital trade.
“But much of the talks will focus on defense, a sector in which South Korean arms manufacturers have become increasingly important for a rapidly rearming Europe,” noted Politico yesterday. The two parties signed a security and defense partnership agreement in November 2024.
“A second key issue will be South Korea’s participation in the EU’s Safe rearmament program,” notes Mattinale Europeo.
All the details.
THE SEMICONDUCTOR DOSSIER
Among the main topics of the summit is cooperation in the semiconductor sector. South Korea is the world’s second-largest chip producer and the global leader in memory chips, a sector considered strategic by Europe. According to European diplomatic sources, Brussels aims to ensure the continuity of microchip supplies and to evaluate new industrial investments on European soil, reports Mattinale Europeo.
Furthermore, during the summit a new competitiveness partnership is expected to be launched to improve cooperation in trade, investment, and economic security.
DEFENSE FOCUS
But a significant part of the talks will be dedicated to defense. As already mentioned, Brussels and Seoul signed a security and defense partnership in November 2024, while the South Korean military industry has become in recent years an important supplier for numerous European countries committed to increasing their military capabilities.
As Politico recalls, Poland is the main buyer of South Korean weapons systems, having signed contracts for 362 K9A1 Thunder self-propelled howitzers, 360 K2 Black Panther tanks, 288 K239 Chunmoo rocket launchers, and 48 FA-50 light combat aircraft.
Between 2022 and 2024, Warsaw absorbed almost half of South Korea’s military exports. The speed of deliveries has been cited as one of the main success factors of Seoul’s defense industry.
Romania has also purchased South Korean systems, ordering 54 K9 howitzers and 36 K10 ammunition resupply vehicles. The agreement also provides for the start of local production activities by Hanwha Aerospace. K9 howitzer supplies have also been made to Estonia, Norway, and Finland.
According to Kévin Martin, researcher at the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique in Paris, “The Baltic and Eastern European countries were the first to reassess their military capability needs following Russia’s annexation of Crimea” in 2014. Martin added that the K9 system was among the few available on the market capable of meeting the operational requirements of these countries, reports Politico.
THE SAFE ISSUE AND SEOUL’S PARTICIPATION
At the heart of the discussion will also be the Safe program, the overall fund made available by Brussels of 150 billion euros, designed to “accelerate defense readiness.” The mechanism provides that the EU raises funds on capital markets and makes them available to member states in the form of long-term loans, based on their investment plans for the European defense industry. The goal is to support investments in strategic capabilities provided that the systems are mainly produced in the EU, Ukraine, or SEE-EFTA countries.
South Korea applied to the European Commission last September to obtain an agreement allowing it broader participation in programs financed by Safe. As Politico recalls, companies from third countries can only represent 35% of the final value of weapons systems funded by the program.
“Member states have largely decided how they will spend Safe funds and are now starting procurement procedures for those funds,” an EU official told the publication. So far, only Canada has reached such an agreement with Brussels.
THE POSSIBILITY OF FUTURE INVOLVEMENT IN THE EUROPEAN DEFENSE UNION
Finally, on the eve of the summit, European Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius also evoked the possibility of future South Korean involvement in the emerging European Defense Union, the still-developing project aimed at greater integration of European military industries and capabilities.
Kubilius told Politico that participation could be “theoretically” open to South Korea, as well as countries like the United Kingdom, Norway, Ukraine, and potentially also Canada and Turkey. According to the European commissioner, a formal proposal could be presented after the NATO summit scheduled in Ankara at the beginning of July.
