President Yoon Suk Yeol and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis pose during a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony after their summit at Yoon's office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

President Yoon Suk Yeol and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis held a summit in Seoul, Tuesday, during which they agreed to enhance the two countries' partnerships in defense and nuclear energy.

The talks took place on the occasion of Iohannis' official visit to Korea and marked the second summit between Yoon and Iohannis, following one last July on the sidelines of Yoon's attendance at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

"The two countries' high-level exchanges are picking up momentum in the wake of the 15th anniversary of our strategic partnership last year," Yoon said. "And the two countries' partnership is expanding into the fields of defense and nuclear energy infrastructure … I hope this visit will play its role in creating positive results in the ongoing discussions on defense and nuclear energy."

During the summit, the leaders adopted the Joint Statement on Strengthening the Strategic Partnership between the Republic of Korea and Romania to expand their cooperation in extensive areas such as politics, security, economy, environment, culture and education.

In the field of national defense, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to continuing dialogues and consultations on defense-related issues to increase their cooperation in the defense industry through joint production of military equipment and defense technology cooperation.

Their commitment was embodied in an agreement on the two countries' defense cooperation signed by their defense ministers on the sidelines of the summit. The agreement covers military education and training, as well as partnerships in defense technology and joint production.

Currently, the two countries are in consultations over a $90 million deal on exporting LIG Nex1's KP-SAM Chiron shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles to Romania. Along with the missile, the European country is reportedly showing interest in Korea's K-9 self-propelled howitzer and K2 battle tank.

Also on the sidelines of the summit, the two countries' energy ministers signed a memorandum of understanding on nuclear energy, under which the two countries will expedite exchanges in sharing information related to the nuclear industry, improving nuclear power plant facilities and strengthening cooperation in tritium removal facilities and small modular reactors.

Korea is exploring additional opportunities in Romania's nuclear industry after Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power signed a contract worth $200 million last June to construct a tritium removal facility at Romania's Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant site.

"In order to combat the effects of climate change and with the aim to increase energy security in their respective regions, both sides will increase cooperation through bilateral consultations, participation in joint energy projects with a focus on technologies for nuclear energy, both for large scale and small modular reactors, hydrogen, renewable energy and increased investments," the joint statement read.

Iohannis said through an interpreter that the two countries will work together in the fields that will have significance for the next several decades, and the two countries will cooperate in various fields including the defense industry, nuclear power, renewable energy and education.