Moon aide denies allegations over UAE

By Kim Rahn

Presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok

A senior presidential secretary said Tuesday presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok had delivered a handwritten letter from President Moon Jae-in to the leader of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) designed to improve the two countries’ partnership. He dismissed the allegations that Im visited the UAE to resolve a diplomatic row with the Middle Eastern country.

Han Byung-do, senior secretary for political affairs, said Moon and Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, talked about improving ties during a phone call in June, and Im was sent earlier this month as a follow-up measure.

“We thought about Im delivering Moon’s letter, and the UAE officials said they would welcome that, so Im took it,” Han told reporters at the National Assembly. “The letter was about improving the strategic partnership between the two nations.”

Han expressed concerns about suspicions and rumors about the visit. “Korean companies are building four nuclear reactors there without any problems, aiming to complete them by 2020. We are concerned that a series of groundless rumors will have a negative influence on Korea’s future bids for overseas nuclear projects.”

He said Korea alone cannot disclose details about conversations between Im and UAE officials because that would be against diplomatic protocol. “I am concerned that groundless rumors may harm the trust between the countries.”

Im visited UAE and Lebanon from Dec. 9 to 12. Cheong Wa Dae initially said he went there to boost the morale of Korean troops dispatched there, but suspicions and rumors emerged that his visit was for other purposes.

The presidential office then said diplomatic relations between Korea and the UAE became estranged under the former Park Geun-hye administration, so Im was sent there to restore them. But it refused to elaborate why the relationship had become sour.

This raised more suspicions including the Moon administration’s nuclear energy-free policy negatively affected the nuclear project, leading to the suspension of construction and non-payment of subcontractors; and the government had angered the UAE’s royal family by looking into financial transactions between it and the former Lee Myung-bak administration.

Both Cheong Wa Dae and the Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), which won the bid for the UAE nuclear project, denied these rumors, saying the construction is underway without any problems.

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) has demanded a National Assembly investigation into what it calls “UAE nuclear-gate,” saying the presidential office was hiding something that might be important to state affairs.

“Cheong Wa Dae should clarify the suspicions that the Moon government caused diplomatic problems and damaged the national interest while trying to pursue its nuclear plant-free policy and retaliating against former administrations,” LKP floor leader Rep. Kim Sung-tae said during a party protest in front of the presidential office.

“It is said that Korean subcontractors there have not received payments and some of them are considering withdrawing from the project. In this situation, Cheong Wa Dae has remained quiet and tried to avoid the situation,” he said.

“This is not something Cheong Wa Dae can just gloss over,” Kim said. “The Moon government and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea should accept the call for an investigation.”

Kim hinted that his party may send its own “fact-finding team” to the UAE if Cheong Wa Dae does not reveal the truth.