{"id":2179,"date":"2026-04-17T12:10:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/2179\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T12:10:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T12:10:47","slug":"south-korea-poland-vow-deeper-defence-ties-on-tusk-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/2179\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea, Poland vow deeper defence ties on Tusk visit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Polish<\/p>\n

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung pose for photographs before their meeting at the Presidential Blue House in Seoul, Monday. (Reuters)<\/p>\n

South\u00a0Korea\u00a0and\u00a0Poland\u00a0pledged\u00a0to\u00a0deepen\u00a0their\u00a0defence\u00a0partnership\u00a0Monday,\u00a0as\u00a0the\u00a0European\u00a0country\u00a0modernises\u00a0its\u00a0military\u00a0following\u00a0the\u00a0Russian\u00a0invasion\u00a0of\u00a0Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Warsaw\u00a0has\u00a0emerged\u00a0as\u00a0a\u00a0key\u00a0buyer\u00a0of\u00a0arms\u00a0from\u00a0Seoul,\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0countries\u00a0signed\u00a0a\u00a0weapons\u00a0deal\u00a0worth\u00a0over\u00a0$40\u00a0billion\u00a0in\u00a02022.<\/p>\n

Polish\u00a0Prime\u00a0Minister\u00a0Donald\u00a0Tusk\u00a0is\u00a0in\u00a0Seoul\u00a0for\u00a0the\u00a0first\u00a0such\u00a0visit\u00a0in\u00a027\u00a0years,\u00a0and\u00a0held\u00a0a\u00a0summit\u00a0with\u00a0South\u00a0Korean\u00a0President\u00a0Lee\u00a0Jae-myung\u00a0Monday.<\/p>\n

“Mutually\u00a0beneficial\u00a0defence\u00a0co-operation\u00a0between\u00a0the\u00a0two\u00a0countries\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0further\u00a0expanded,”\u00a0Lee\u00a0told\u00a0a\u00a0joint\u00a0press\u00a0conference\u00a0afterwards.<\/p>\n

He\u00a0stressed\u00a0the\u00a0“steady\u00a0implementation”\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a02022\u00a0agreement,\u00a0calling\u00a0it\u00a0“essential\u00a0for\u00a0deepening\u00a0and\u00a0advancing\u00a0our\u00a0defence\u00a0industry\u00a0co-operation”.<\/p>\n

Under\u00a0the\u00a0deal,\u00a0Poland\u00a0has\u00a0bought\u00a0South\u00a0Korean\u00a0military\u00a0hardware\u00a0including\u00a0tanks,\u00a0self-propelled\u00a0howitzers\u00a0and\u00a0rocket\u00a0launchers.<\/p>\n

Some\u00a0of\u00a0those\u00a0weapons\u00a0are\u00a0now\u00a0“operating\u00a0proudly\u00a0across\u00a0Poland’s\u00a0vast\u00a0plains,\u00a0helping\u00a0to\u00a0safeguard\u00a0the\u00a0country’s\u00a0territory\u00a0and\u00a0protect\u00a0its\u00a0people”,\u00a0Lee\u00a0said\u00a0in\u00a0his\u00a0opening\u00a0remarks\u00a0before\u00a0the\u00a0summit.<\/p>\n

Seoul\u00a0and\u00a0Warsaw\u00a0would\u00a0elevate\u00a0ties\u00a0to\u00a0a\u00a0“comprehensive\u00a0strategic\u00a0partnership”,\u00a0he\u00a0added.<\/p>\n

Poland,\u00a0a\u00a0member\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0European\u00a0Union\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0Nato\u00a0defence\u00a0bloc,\u00a0has\u00a0stood\u00a0firmly\u00a0behind\u00a0neighbouring\u00a0Ukraine\u00a0since\u00a0Russia\u00a0launched\u00a0its\u00a0full-scale\u00a0invasion\u00a0in\u00a0February\u00a02022.<\/p>\n

South\u00a0Korea\u00a0has\u00a0backed\u00a0Kyiv,\u00a0especially\u00a0since\u00a0North\u00a0Korea\u00a0deployed\u00a0troops\u00a0to\u00a0support\u00a0Russia,\u00a0but\u00a0has\u00a0stopped\u00a0short\u00a0of\u00a0supplying\u00a0lethal\u00a0weapons,\u00a0citing\u00a0a\u00a0domestic\u00a0ban\u00a0on\u00a0militarily\u00a0aiding\u00a0countries\u00a0at\u00a0war.<\/p>\n

Tusk\u00a0described\u00a0South\u00a0Korea\u00a0as\u00a0“Poland’s\u00a0second-most\u00a0important\u00a0ally\u00a0after\u00a0the\u00a0United\u00a0States”,\u00a0according\u00a0to\u00a0a\u00a0Korean\u00a0translation\u00a0of\u00a0his\u00a0opening\u00a0remarks.<\/p>\n

Defence\u00a0co-operation\u00a0“remains\u00a0the\u00a0core\u00a0driving\u00a0force\u00a0of\u00a0bilateral\u00a0relations”,\u00a0he\u00a0said,\u00a0adding\u00a0that\u00a0Warsaw\u00a0would\u00a0encourage\u00a0South\u00a0Korean\u00a0partner\u00a0firms\u00a0to\u00a0shift\u00a0production\u00a0lines\u00a0to\u00a0Poland.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0two\u00a0leaders\u00a0also\u00a0agreed\u00a0to\u00a0expand\u00a0co-operation\u00a0in\u00a0non-defence\u00a0fields,\u00a0including\u00a0energy\u00a0supply\u00a0chains\u00a0and\u00a0infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Tusk\u00a0wraps\u00a0up\u00a0his\u00a0visit\u00a0on\u00a0Monday\u00a0and\u00a0will\u00a0then\u00a0head\u00a0to\u00a0Tokyo.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related Story<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Gulf<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Gulf<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung pose for photographs before their meeting at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[64,1892,455,9,1891],"class_list":["post-2179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-donald-tusk","tag-donald-tusk","tag-invasion","tag-military","tag-poland","tag-russian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}