South Korea, Indonesia Upgrade to Special Strategic Partnership

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto elevated their countries' bilateral relationship to a special comprehensive strategic partnership during a summit in Seoul on Wednesday, marking the first such designation for South Korea with any nation.

The leaders held their third meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea's presidential office, as part of Prabowo's inaugural state visit from Tuesday to Thursday. Invited by Lee, Prabowo arrived amid efforts to bolster ties first established as a special strategic partnership in 2017. The upgrade focuses on expanding cooperation in trade, investment, and defense, while venturing into emerging fields like artificial intelligence, nuclear power, infrastructure, shipbuilding, energy transition, and cultural industries.

In opening remarks at an enlarged summit, Lee described the milestone as historic. "We have achieved the historic milestone of upgrading our relationship to a special comprehensive strategic partnership, the only one of its kind that the Republic of Korea maintains," he said. "I find this deeply meaningful. I am confident that today's summit will demonstrate why our bilateral relationship is...