South Korean and Polish leaders visit air base in Poland, discuss defense and energy ties

(Patria) - The Prime Minister of South Korea visited Poland on Wednesday for talks on regional security amid the war in neighboring Ukraine, as well as discussing military and nuclear energy cooperation as his country continues to strengthen ties with Warsaw, AP reported.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki visited an air base in the town of Minsk Mazowiecki in eastern Poland, where they watched Korean FA-50 fighter jets that Poland recently purchased along with other military equipment.

They discussed cooperation in armaments and military equipment, as Poland wants to help in the production of South Korean weapons. South Korea will participate in Poland's nuclear energy development.

"It can be said without a doubt that Poland is a key economic partner for South Korea and a starting point for entering the markets of Central and Eastern Europe," Han said after the talks.

He noted that both Poland and South Korea have experience in post-war reconstruction and could cooperate in helping to repair the damage in Ukraine.

"We are united in defending (our) civilization and peace," Morawiecki agreed during a joint press conference with Han, referring to Russia's war against Ukraine.

Poland has provided a lot of military equipment to Ukraine to support it in the fight against Russia and is intensively purchasing weapons to improve its own defense capabilities. It is buying billions of dollars worth of armaments, mainly from the United States and South Korea.

"Poland today faces the enormous task of building one of the strongest armies in Europe," Morawiecki said.

"We want to use the most advanced technologies. Our strategic partnership with Korea is leading us in that direction," he added.

In addition to 48 jet fighters, Poland is in the process of purchasing about 670 K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzers, about 1,000 K2 tanks, as well as K239 Chunmoo artillery systems.

The Polish government plans to spend more than 4% of its gross domestic product on defense in 2024.

Poland's nuclear energy program by 2043 foresees the company Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power as a strategic partner in the development of one of the three planned nuclear power plants in Poland.

Korea opened its borders to Polish pork on Tuesday and is working to allow imports of beef and poultry from Poland, Han said.

Bilateral economic trade between the countries was more than $10 billion in 2022, when arms purchases were made.