Australia, South Korea Agree to Defence and Critical Minerals Cooperation

The meeting comes on the sidelines of the G7 summit.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, speaks during a press conference ahead of the Korean New Year at the National Assembly in Seoul on January 31, 2024. Jeon Heon-kyun/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has held his first face-to-face meeting with South Korea’s new President Lee Jae-myung on the sidelines of the G7 in Canada and says the two countries have agreed to cooperate in several key areas, including defence, the defence industry, critical minerals, and supply chains.

Increasing instability in the Indo-Pacific region is concerning regional leaders in response to overreach from Chinese Communist Party (CCP) warships and aircraft, causing them to seek ways to strengthen bilateral alliances.

Since early May, a CCP’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) flotilla led by the carrier Shandong conducted exercises north of the Philippines; its newest carrier, the Fujian, has been on sea trials in disputed waters west of the Korean Peninsula; and its oldest carrier, the Liaoning, has led exercises within Japan’s exclusive economic zone

It’s too early to say what attitude South Korea’s Lee will take toward the CCP, but during the election campaign he criticised his predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol’s moves to deepen alliances with the United States and Japan.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to Members of the Labor Government in the caucus meeting in Canberra, Australia, on May 9, 2025. Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images

Lee maintained Seoul should de-escalate tensions between South Korea and the CCP, especially over the Taiwan Strait.

Yet relations between the two countries remain strained, with the latest conflict arising from rumours that Beijing is planning a fourth deep sea platform in the jointly managed West Sea Provisional Maritime Zone (PMZ), where the exclusive economic zones of both countries overlap. It has already constructed three “deep-sea fisheries aquaculture facilities” between 2018 and 2024.

Further, the CCP remains unpopular in South Korea, with a poll released in March finding that respondents in their 20s and 30s rated China’s favourability at just 30 out of 100, just two points above neighbouring North Korea.

Room for Even More Cooperation, Lee Says

Albanese was one of the first leaders to speak with Lee after he took office, in a telephone call on June 12, where they discussed the same issues, including deepening economic ties.

Following the meeting, both men spoke briefly to the media, with Lee saying through an interpreter that his Australian counterpart looked “much younger and good-looking than I imagined from your voice.”

Albanese said the two countries had “built a very important” economic and defence relationship, noting the upcoming commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of war on the Korean Peninsula.

Lee said he sees “even further room for future cooperation” and looks forward to the opportunity to visit Australia in the future.

Lee and Albanese also agreed to strengthen communication and cooperation to make actual progress on the North Korean nuclear issue, as well as to collaborate on a successful Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, later this year.