South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol received a welcome from the honor guard on Sunday on a trip to the United Arab Emirates as he hopes to expand his military sales here.
Yoon’s visit comes as South Korea makes billions of dollars worth of trade deals and posts special forces troops to defend the United Arab Emirates, an arrangement that drew criticism under his liberal predecessor. Now, however, it appears the conservative leader wants to double down on those military ties even as tensions with neighboring Iran have already seen Tehran seize a South Korean tanker in 2021.
“I think the situation in the Middle East is changing very quickly when it comes to geopolitics,” said June Park, a fellow at the International Strategy Forum at Schmidt Futures. “So Korea wants to make sure that some of the strategic partnerships and components … with the United Arab Emirates” stay strong.
Yoon arrived at the Qasr Al Watan palace in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. He was greeted by the Emirati leader, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who took office in May after serving as the country’s de facto ruler for years.
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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, center left, and Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan walk past an honor guard at Qasar Al Watan in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, April 15. January 2023. Yoon received a welcome from the guard of honor on Sunday on a trip to the United Arab Emirates, where Seoul hopes to expand its military sales as it finishes construction on the Arabian Peninsula’s first nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
(AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
An honor guard of traditionally dressed Emirati greeted Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon Hee. They twirled model Lee-Enfield rifles alongside troops on horseback and camels. Inside, a military band played the national anthems of South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.
After the ceremony, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted Sheikh Mohammed as saying the United Arab Emirates planned to invest $30 billion in South Korea. “We decided to make the investment with the confidence that the ROK will keep its promises in all circumstances,” he said.
The report gave no further details.
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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, center left, and Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan walk past an honor guard at Qasar Al Watan in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, April 15. January 2023. Yoon received a welcome from the guard of honor on Sunday on a trip to the United Arab Emirates, where Seoul hopes to expand its military sales as it finishes construction on the Arabian Peninsula’s first nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
(AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
While energy-hungry South Korea relies on the Emirates for just under 10% of its crude oil supply, Seoul has struck a series of deals that go far beyond oil with this nation of seven emirates linking closely to the nation with Abu Dhabi. South Korea’s trade with the United Arab Emirates is in the billions of dollars in cars, materials and other goods.
The importance of the trip to Seoul could be seen from South Korean business leaders attending a camel meat lunch at the palace. Among those present were Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung, Samsung Electronics CEO Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.
Before Yoon’s trip, officials described the visit as an attempt to solidify the ties that already exist between the two countries.
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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, and Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, right, attend a ceremony at Qasar Al Watan in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Sunday. January 15, 2023. Yoon received a welcome from the honor guard on Sunday on a trip to the United Arab Emirates, where Seoul hopes to expand its military sales as it finishes construction of the Arabian Peninsula’s first nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
(AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
“This visit will strengthen strategic cooperation with our sister country, the UAE, in the four core cooperative sectors of nuclear power, energy, investment and defense,” said Kim Sung-han, the Yoon government’s national security director.
On Saturday, Yonhap quoted an unnamed presidential official who also said an arms deal was planned.
“The environment is extremely conducive to security or military cooperation between South Korea and the United Arab Emirates when it comes to the arms industry,” the official said, according to Yonhap.
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South Korean first lady Kim Keon Hee listens to a military band at Qasar Al Watan in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol received a honor guard Sunday on a trip to the United States. United Arab Emirates, where Seoul hopes to expand its military sales as it finishes construction of the Arabian Peninsula’s first nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
(AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
South Korea has already reached a $3.5 billion deal with the United Arab Emirates in 2022 to sell M-SAM, an advanced air defense system designed to intercept missiles at altitudes below 40 kilometers (25 miles). Emirati officials have become increasingly concerned about protecting their airspace after being targeted by long-range drone strikes by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
While US forces fired Patriot missiles for the first time in combat since the 2003 invasion of Iraq to defend Abu Dhabi during those attacks, the Emiratis have been protecting their reliance on US military support since the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
But South Korea’s biggest project remains the Barakah nuclear power plant, Seoul’s first attempt to build atomic reactors abroad. The $20 billion facility, which will eventually have four reactors, is located in the western deserts of the United Arab Emirates, near the border with Saudi Arabia, and will one day account for almost a quarter of all energy needs for the United Arab Emirates. Emirates.
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South Korean First Lady Kim Keon Hee and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol listen to a military band at Qasar Al Watan in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. Yoon received a welcome from the guard of honor on Sunday on a trip to the United Arab Emirates, where Seoul hopes to expand its military sales as it finishes construction on the Arabian Peninsula’s first nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
(AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)
It is also key to the United Arab Emirates’ plans to become carbon neutral by 2050, a pledge that takes on particular importance as it prepares to host the United Nations’ COP28 climate talks from November in Dubai.
Yoon is likely to want to reassure Emiratis that South Korea wants to compete for lucrative maintenance contracts after his predecessor, President Moon Jae-in, said Seoul wanted to move away from nuclear power.
“Energy policy did a 180 degree turn” after the election, said Park, the analyst. “So Korea is now in favor of nuclear power and I guess the Yoon administration wants to make sure the Emiratis don’t have concerns about policy changes or anything like that.”
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Then there are also the nuclear tensions with North Korea. Yoon, a former top prosecutor, became president in May vowing to take a tougher line on Pyongyang. Until a few years ago, hundreds of North Korean workers were believed to have worked in the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere in Persian Gulf states, offering a flow of cash to Pyongyang as it seeks to evade mounting sanctions over its nuclear program.
However, a crackdown has seen their numbers drop dramatically as nations stopped renewing their visas. A recent report by a UN expert noted that high-end camera equipment purchased in the United Arab Emirates ended up in North Korea, while another mentioned that a North Korean citizen living in Dubai obtained foreign currency through an app. online lying about their nationality.
The UN also recently said, in 2021, that it had information about North Korean diplomats in Iran flying the Dubai-based long-haul carrier Emirates smuggling gold with them.
