[NATO-IP4 Webinar] NATO 3.0 and the Indo-Pacific After the Ankara Summit: A South Korean Perspective
Editor's Note
On August 5, 2026, Inhwan Oh, a Senior Research Fellow at EAI and a lecturer at Seoul National University, presented the South Korean perspective at a webinar assessing the NATO-sponsored Ankara Summit. Dr. Oh explained the background behind South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s attendance, noting that South Korea was the only IP4 country to participate at the head-of-state level. Specifically, the speaker emphasized that as NATO 3.0 advances, South Korea sought to solidify its position as a reliable, long-term partner in the global defense industrial ecosystem that connects the Indo-Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic.
YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q-8CVG-DR8
Video Transcript
South Korea's Rationale and Strategy for Attending the Ankara Summit
Thank you, Professor Atkinson, Professor Park Jaja, and Petra, for organizing the Ankara Summit. I would also like to thank Ambassador Hamilton for his excellent remarks in the previous session. First, as the representative from South Korea, I wish to point out that South Korea was the only IP4 member whose top leader attended the Ankara Summit. This was particularly significant given that the leaders of the other IP4 member states decided not to attend.
You may be wondering why, so allow me to explain South Korea’s fundamental motivations, or rationale, for President Lee Jae-myung’s attendance. First, I believe President Lee was able to attend because South Korea judged that it had correctly interpreted the direction of NATO 3.0. The premise of NATO 3.0 is that Europe will take primary responsibility for its own defense, with the United States providing limited but decisive support. A NATO with a more European and industrial focus therefore places all of us, including South Korea, in a better position to counter narratives of bloc politics or disinformation, such as the idea of an 'Asian NATO' or a 'new Cold War'.
Second, I believe South Korea wanted to clearly demonstrate to its European partners its commitment to being a reliable and trustworthy partner to Europe and NATO. It also sought to become a substantive pillar of the emerging defense industrial ecosystem spanning the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions.
Accordingly, South Korea seeks to participate in this ecosystem beyond merely selling and trading military hardware, by engaging from the research and development, production, and operational stages. As Professor Shin briefly mentioned, and since I have only two minutes remaining, I will omit the details of the agreement with NATO. I will conclude my remarks there. Thank you very much.
*This text is an AI translation of an original written in Korean. Some translations or nuances may be inaccurate.
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