Türkiye, South Korea sign agreement on nuclear power plant financing
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung signed a new agreement on cooperation in financing the construction of a nuclear power plant in Türkiye during Erdogan's visit to Seoul.
In a joint statement, Lee said South Korea would further strengthen cooperation with Türkiye in nuclear energy, the defence industry and infrastructure projects, CE Report quotes BTA.
The South Korean President said cooperation on the nuclear power plant project had been progressing smoothly since the two countries signed an agreement on nuclear energy and infrastructure in November 2025. He cited progress on site surveys and the work of a joint working group.
Building on these developments, the two countries had signed a further agreement concerning cooperation on financing the nuclear power plant, Lee said. They had also discussed ways to support the participation of South Korean companies operating in Türkiye in the construction project.
South Korea and Canada are among the countries showing strong interest in building a nuclear power plant in the Turkish Black Sea city of Sinop. Other potential bidders include France, the United States, China and Russia.
At the beginning of the year, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced that a decision on which country would be selected would be made within a year.
In March, Bayraktar also said that Türkiye planned to install four large reactors at the Sinop nuclear power plant, in addition to small modular reactors.
Mineral resources, mining and cooperation on renewable energy were also discussed during the meeting between the two presidents.
During his official visit to South Korea on Tuesday, his first in eight years, Erdogan stressed that Ankara and Seoul would strengthen their energy cooperation through a new agreement.
Erdogan said the agreement signed between Turkish and South Korean energy companies in November 2025 had laid an important foundation for bilateral cooperation. He expressed confidence that the documents signed by the two countries' energy ministers during the visit would further strengthen that cooperation.
He also highlighted battery manufacturing, artificial intelligence technologies and semiconductors as high-tech sectors in which Türkiye attaches particular importance to cooperation with South Korea.
The visit also covered infrastructure projects, including the construction of new railway lines.
The two countries aim to increase their bilateral trade volume from USD 11 billion to USD 15 billion.
Photo: Instagram/rterdogan
