Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Korea and France sign LOI on military space partnership

- A first step to diversify defense space cooperation with countries with advanced space capabilities

On May 30, 2023, the Ministry of National Defense of Korea and French Minister of the Armed Forces signed a letter of intent (LOI) on South Korea-France military space partnership at the Defense Ministry building in Seoul and agreed to deepen future-oriented space cooperation.

Director General at the Defense Policy Bureau of South Korea's Defense Ministry Choi Byung-ok and French Space Commander Philippe Adam attended the LOI signing ceremony on behalf of the defense ministries.

The LOI on military space partnership is significantly meaningful, as it’s with France, one of the leading European countries in space. This expands cooperation with the French military and represents a first step to diversify defense space cooperation.

Despite the pandemic, the South Korean Defense Ministry has continued to cooperate in various ways with the French Ministry of the Armed Forces following the Defense Strategy Dialogue in 2019. This cooperation culminated in the visit of the French Space Commander and the signing of the LOI.

The two countries will discuss ways to boost Korea-France defense space cooperation according to the LOI each year, and accelerate cooperation to enhance defense space power by sharing information on space domain awareness (SDA), space-based exercises, and exchanges of personnel to cultivate expertise.

At the LOI signing ceremony, representatives of both sides exchanged views on strengthening Korea-France defense space cooperation.

An institutional basis for defense space cooperation was established under the LOI. Following this, Director General at the Defense Policy Bureau Choi proposed the active implementation of bilateral cooperation such as Korea’s participation in French military space exercises and joint research on space policy.
  

French Space Commander Adam expressed interest in the rapidly growing defense space capabilities of Korea and promised active cooperation to ensure that the space operation capabilities of both countries can be strengthened in a mutually beneficial way.

The signing of this LOI will contribute to expanding cooperation in defense space between the South Korean military and French military. With this LOI as momentum, the military will additionally strengthen cooperation with other countries with advanced space capabilities to cope with various space threats.