S. Korea, Turkey agree to improve ties in nuclear energy, defense

SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- The foreign ministers of South Korea and Turkey met
Friday on the sidelines of a security forum in Britain and agreed to bolster
cooperation in nuclear energy and defense trade, officials here said.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoglu also agreed that their governments should quickly launch talks aimed at
forging a free trade deal to boost trade while promoting high-level exchanges,
ministry officials said.
Yu was in London for an international conference on Afghanistan, where diplomats
from some 60 countries gathered to discuss ways to help rebuild the war-torn
nation, according to his office.
Following a deal last month that would allow South Korea to build nuclear plants
in the United Arab Emirates, Seoul has pushed to expand its exports of related
technologies and equipment.
Turkey and Jordan have reportedly shown an interest in building nuclear power
plants to generate electricity, with South Korea pitching for the sale of its
technology.
South Korea and Turkey are increasingly active partners in defense trade. South
Korea has exported K-9 artillery guns and KT-1 training aircraft to Turkey while
sharing tank development technology.
Turkey also contributed 15,000 troops to the United Nations command fighting on
South Korea's side in the 1950-53 Korean War. About 800 of them died and 2,200
were wounded.
Ministry officials in Seoul said Yu also met with Luxembourg's Foreign Minister
Jean Asselborn and shared views on ways to increase trade and diplomatic
exchanges between the countries.
Yu and Asselborn reached consensus that the two governments should push actively
for the early ratification of a free trade agreement that South Korea forged with
the European Union last year, they said.
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