What Indo-Pacific Four means for Korea

President Lee Jae Myung's trip to Ankara for this year's NATO summit signaled continuity in South Korea's engagement with the Euro-Atlantic security alliance.

More importantly, his visit reaffirmed the strategic value Seoul places on the Indo-Pacific Four (IP4) framework which refers to four NATO partners —Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

At the summit, Lee participated in the NATO-IP4 meeting, held talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and delivered a keynote address.

He called for a "Korea-NATO Defense Industry Partnership 2.0" centered on joint research, production and operation of defense systems.

Korea also pledged an additional $100 million in non-lethal assistance to Ukraine, underscoring that Seoul continues to view European and Indo-Pacific security as increasingly interconnected, while remaining consistent with its long-standing policy on lethal military aid.

Just one year ago, it was unclear whether this would be the case.

Last year, Lee did not attend the NATO summit, prompting speculation that the NATO-IP4 partnership was losing momentum under the new admi