Korea, Peru sign MOUs on defense industry, minerals at bilateral summit

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Korea, Peru sign MOUs on defense industry, minerals at bilateral summit

Published: 17 Nov. 2024, 17:36

SARAH KIM
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Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, center left, and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, center right, clap at a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding for the joint development of submarines for the Peruvian Navy in Lima, Peru, on Saturday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Korea and Peru signed agreements to strengthen cooperation in their defense industry, infrastructure and critical minerals sectors as President Yoon Suk Yeol and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte took part in a bilateral summit on Saturday in Lima.

The bilateral talks came as Yoon visited Peru to attend the APEC summit and take part in an official visit to the country afterward. This marks the first visit by a Korean president to Peru in nine years.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries signed an MOU with Peru's state-owned shipyard Servicios Industriales de la Marina (SIMA) for the joint development of submarines. In April, Hyundai signed a $463 million contract with SIMA to build four warships for the Peruvian Navy.

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Peru's state-run aerospace agency Seman signed an MOU to jointly produce KF-21 fighter jet components.

Defense manufacturer Hyundai Rotem and Peru's state-owned arms manufacturing company Army Weapons and Ammunition Factory (FAME) signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement for Peruvian Army ground equipment.

The two sides also signed an MOU on critical minerals to enable information exchanges, joint geological surveys and technological cooperation. Korea is a technology powerhouse, while Peru is a resource-rich country known for its copper, silver, selenium and zinc deposits, the presidential office said.

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, right, take part in an official welcome ceremony in Lima, Peru, ahead of their bilateral summit on Saturday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The two leaders also agreed on infrastructure cooperation, pledging to work together to complete the construction of Peru's new Chinchero airport, which will serve as a gateway to Machu Picchu, a Unesco World Heritage site and a major tourist destination.

They agreed to encourage Korean companies' participation in Peru's infrastructure projects, which Yoon said would help Peru take a "leap forward as a transportation and logistics hub in Central and South America."

"President Boluarte has shown leadership for the prosperity and integration of the Asia-Pacific region through successfully hosting this year's Lima APEC Summit," Yoon said joint press briefing. "Korea will follow Peru's achievements as the APEC chair country next year.

South Korea's Gyeongju hosts next year's APEC summit, and Yoon and Boluarte attended a ceremony to hand over the APEC CEO Summit chairmanship on Saturday.

Through a joint statement, the two leaders emphasized that strengthening bilateral cooperation in national defense and the defense industries "has become a milestone in the development of the comprehensive strategic partnership."

The two leaders also condemned North Korea's nuclear and missile activities and called for Pyongyang's "complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization."

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, shakes hands with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte after their joint press briefing at the Palacio de Gobierno in Lima, Peru, following their bilateral summit on Saturday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Yoon is on his first trip eight-day trip to South America since taking office in May 2022, which later takes him to Brazil for the G20 summit.

Korea and Peru established bilateral relations in 1963. Their bilateral FTA went into effect in 2011, and the two countries elevated ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2012.

On the margins of the APEC summit, Yoon also held first bilateral summits with other leaders, including new Vietnamese President Luong Cuong and Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]