Lee's NATO pitch: Defense partner beyond simple arms sales

President Lee Jae Myung’s first NATO summit has put South Korea’s defense industry on a bigger stage — but the real question in Ankara is to be bigger than simply how many weapons Seoul can sell.

At the two-day summit, Seoul is seeking to turn Europe's growing demand for Korean weapons into something more enduring: a place inside NATO's defense industry ecosystem, spanning supply chains, production networks and military standards.

NATO members are rebuilding stockpiles, raising defense spending ...