DAPA chief discusses arms cooperation in Saudi Arabia

This photo shows DAPA Minister Seok Jong-gun, left, holding talks with Abdullah bin Bandar Al Saud, minister of the Saudi Arabian National Guard in Riyadh, provided by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), Jan. 22. Yonhap

The chief of the state arms procurement agency visited Saudi Arabia earlier this week to discuss ways to strengthen arms cooperation with key defense and military officials in the Middle Eastern country, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Wednesday.

DAPA Minister Seok Jong-gun held talks with Abdullah bin Bandar Al Saud, minister of the Saudi Arabian National Guard, to discuss Riyadh's bid to modernize its ground equipment and agreed to flesh out detailed ways for cooperation by the end of the year, according to DAPA.

Seok also met with Khalid bin Hussein Al-Bayari, assistant minister of defense for executive affairs, for talks on Saudi Arabia's bid to procure ground, maritime and aviation assets, and bilateral cooperation between their arms industries.

As part of the talks, they agreed to establish a consultative body comprising the government and defense firms to discuss such cooperation.

Seok's visit also involved talks with the top commanders of the Saudi Arabian Air Force and Navy, DAPA said.

The DAPA chief vowed to step up efforts to win more arms export deals, saying the latest visit confirmed Saudi Arabia's potential as one of Korea's "biggest arms cooperation partners" going forward, it added.

Seok visited Saudi Arabia as part of a two-nation trip, aimed at boosting potential arms exports, that will also take him to Norway.

In Norway, the DAPA chief will visit Kongsberg Satellite Services, also known as KSAT, which took part in assessing Korea's military reconnaissance satellite project. (Yonhap)