Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Korea, UAE seal $65 bil. partnership in defense, nuclear energy, high-tech
Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik, left, shakes hands with Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of Abu Dhabi's Executive Affairs Authority, during their meeting in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, in this photo captured from Kang's Facebook page Thursday.
By Jung Min-ho
Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed to move ahead with more than $65 billion in joint projects, presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said Thursday, after leading a high-level mission to Abu Dhabi to turn recent summit pledges into concrete deals.
Kang, who also serves as presidential special envoy on strategic economic cooperation, held three rounds of talks with Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of Abu Dhabi’s Executive Affairs Authority, to push forward projects spanning defense, energy, advanced technology and culture.
The two countries also agreed to establish sector-specific working groups to generate visible outcomes before the next summit. The visit followed President Lee Jae Myung’s state visit to the country in November and the reciprocal trip to Korea in January by Khaldoon Al Mubarak as the UAE’s special envoy.
During his mission, Kang paid a courtesy call on UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, delivered a personal letter from Lee inviting him to visit Korea and received Mohammed’s agreement to make a return visit at an early date.
The largest portion of the package is in defense, where the two countries confirmed over $35 billion in cooperation projects. Moving beyond arms sales, they signed a defense cooperation framework memorandum of understanding that covers the full defense industrial cycle, from system design and training to maintenance.
A further $30 billion in investment cooperation will be overhauled to match the strategic sectors identified at last year’s summit, including defense, artificial intelligence, nuclear power and culture. The revamped framework is intended not only to fulfill Mohammed’s earlier investment pledge, but also to support joint strategic projects and facilitate Korean companies’ expansion into the UAE and third-country markets, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
In the nuclear sector, the two sides agreed to build on their experience with the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant to expand collaboration across the full project lifecycle, including nuclear fuel supply, maintenance capacity-building and integrating artificial intelligence into plant operations.
Khaldoon Al Mubarak is expected to visit Korea again in March or April to review progress and drive follow-up discussions.