President Lee Jae-myung and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto held a summit on the 1st. President Prabowo arrived in Korea the same day for a three-day, two-night state visit. President Lee announced that, on this occasion, bilateral relations would be elevated to Korea’s only “Special Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.”

At the Korea–Indonesia summit held at the Blue House on the morning of the same day, President Lee stated, “In a situation where there are serious concerns about the impact of the Middle East war on the energy supply chains of both countries as well as on the regional economy, we take great reassurance from Indonesia’s stable role in supplying key energy sources such as LNG (liquefied natural gas) and coal,” adding, “There is a very strong need to expand bilateral cooperation on stable energy supply and resource security so that the current crisis has a minimal impact on the economies of both countries and on the lives of our peoples.”

President Lee said, “Indonesia was the first overseas investment destination for Korean companies and is a valuable partner that made today’s K-defense industry possible. A Korean company also participated in Indonesia’s first electric vehicle production,” and continued, “On the basis of the successful cooperation achievements to date, President Prabowo and I intend to create many more future projects that will bring greater benefits to the peoples of both countries.” He added, “In the rapidly changing international order, cooperation between our two countries, which share values such as democracy and free trade, will shine even more brightly.”


President Prabowo said, “Korea has outstanding industrial capacity and science and technology, and Indonesia has abundant resources and a large market, so we believe we can play complementary roles for each other,” and continued, “The two countries share various similar concerns as middle powers, and as middle powers we regard peace and stability in the international community as extremely important,” adding, “It seems we also share the view that strong security and defense are necessary to maintain this peace and stability.”

He said, “This state visit comes at an unfortunate time when uncertainty is increasing globally,” adding, “This is why relations between our two countries are all the more important.” He emphasized, “We hope to expand toward more comprehensive cooperation, and it is necessary for us to assign tasks so that ministers of both countries can fulfill this role.” On the same day, the two countries elevated their relationship to a “Special Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” one step higher than the “Special Strategic Partnership” concluded in 2017.


The two countries signed a total of 16 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) that day. These included MOUs to strengthen cooperation in areas such as critical minerals, AI policy development, AI basic healthcare, clean energy, the offshore plant service industry, intellectual property protection, and finance. MOUs were also signed on cooperation in wildfire management and restoration of wildfire-affected areas, development cooperation, and data and statistics cooperation.

President Lee conferred the Grand Order of Mugunghwa on President Prabowo. The Grand Order of Mugunghwa is the highest class of order stipulated by the Orders and Decorations Act. The Blue House explained, “This recognizes the achievement of concrete cooperation outcomes in various fields, including trade and investment, artificial intelligence (AI), culture and creative industries, and defense.”

President Lee prepared as gifts for President Prabowo a traditional Korean archery set and the Muye Dobo Tongji, a Joseon Dynasty martial arts manual. The Indonesian side presented President Lee with a “Bali Kris (dagger)” crafted by Balinese artisans combining wood and silver, a “Bali carved nameplate” engraved with the emblem of Garuda, the king of eagles, and a set of pet supplies.

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