President Lee Jae-myung spoke by phone on the afternoon of February 10 with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, exchanging views on global security challenges and ways to expand Korea-NATO cooperation..

The call was made at Secretary General Rutte's request, coming seven months after the two leaders' first phone conversation in July of last year.

President Lee and Secretary General Rutte agreed that continued cooperation between Korea and NATO is essential for addressing global security challenges, particularly as security in the Indo-Pacific and Europe has become increasingly interconnected. The two sides agreed to maintain close communication going forward on the war in Ukraine, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and other issues.

President Lee also emphasized that Korea is an ideal defense industry partner, having built defense cooperation relationships with numerous NATO member states on the strength of its advanced defense capabilities. He proposed advancing defense cooperation in a substantive way through channels such as the Korea-NATO Defense Industry Consultative Body established last year.

Secretary General Rutte, in turn, expressed high regard for Korea's defense industry capabilities and reaffirmed his continued support for strengthening Korea-NATO defense cooperation.

The two sides concluded by agreeing to sustain efforts to deepen the Korea-NATO relationship across a wide range of areas, including defense, space, and intelligence sharing.