South Korea and Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding to explore financing for Turkish energy projects as Seoul seeks a role in the country’s planned second nuclear power plant. The agreement followed talks in Seoul between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Signed by the Export-Import Bank of Korea and Turkey Nuclear Energy Inc, the memorandum provides for examining funding arrangements and establishing an information-sharing working group. Turkey has not selected a partner for the Sinop plant on the Black Sea coast. Lee nevertheless described cooperation as progressing smoothly, with site assessments and a joint working group already under way.
The agreement builds on a November 2025 nuclear cooperation memorandum involving Turkey Nuclear Energy Inc and South Korea’s state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation, or KEPCO. Erdoğan said preliminary feasibility studies with KEPCO had been completed, while technical and economic assessments continued. Financing, electricity generation costs, and benefits to Turkey’s economy will inform the final decision, alongside consideration of other international partners.
Beyond nuclear energy, the leaders agreed to expand joint defense production and technology cooperation, building on collaboration on Turkey’s Altay battle tank program. Separate agreements address renewable energy, hydrogen, and critical minerals. An annual energy transition forum will review joint projects.
Bilateral trade exceeded $11 billion last year, and the leaders discussed their existing $15 billion target, as well as trade imbalances, import restrictions, and customs delays. They agreed to have ministers oversee their joint free trade agreement committee and also signed an investment cooperation memorandum.
