NEW YORK — President Lee Jae-myung, who is visiting the United States to attend the U.N. General Assembly, held a summit with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the 22nd and discussed ways to expand cooperation between the two countries in areas including energy supply chains and defense.
Sung Ki-hong, senior presidential secretary for public communication, said in a written briefing that Lee and Albanese exchanged views on bilateral relations, energy supply chains, defense cooperation and other shared interests, as well as on the international situation. It was the third bilateral meeting between the two leaders, following talks on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit last year.
"Based on trust and close ties, the two leaders had a candid exchange of views on bilateral relations, energy supply chains, defense cooperation and other matters of shared interest, as well as on the international situation," Sung said.
The two leaders reaffirmed in particular that South Korea and Australia are key partners that must work closely together to ensure a stable supply of major energy resources such as liquefied natural gas and oil products as they respond to the energy crisis stemming from the Middle East. The two countries agreed to strengthen cooperation to build a stable and resilient regional energy supply chain.
Albanese described South Korea as a reliable partner for Australia in critical minerals and clean energy. He also stressed the significant potential to further expand cooperation by combining South Korea's manufacturing capabilities with Australia's abundant resources.
Lee agreed and asked about Australia's recent policy on using renewable energy for artificial intelligence data centers and about energy price trends. On that basis, the two leaders agreed to continue exploring new areas of cooperation.
The two leaders also agreed to broaden the scope of cooperation into various fields, including defense, as partners that share values at a time of growing global uncertainty.
Albanese asked Lee to visit Australia in the first half of next year. The two leaders agreed to keep meeting and communicating closely on the sidelines of events including the APEC and Group of 20 summits scheduled for this year.
