By Xu Aiying and Sohn JiAe

President Moon Jae-in shared his opinions on how to further develop bilateral ties between Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as he met the chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority of Abu Dhabi, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak Abu Dhabi, who was visiting Seoul as a special envoy from the UAE, on Jan. 9.

“Khaldoon has been playing a decisive role in terms of deepening bilateral cooperation across various areas, including the nuclear power plant project in Barakah,” said President Moon.

“As we’ve done over the past few years, the Korean government has a resolute stance to further develop the Korea-UAE strategic partnership, based on trust.”

The Emirati special envoy said in response that, “The UAE has grown our relationship with Korea into one of the most precious strategic partnerships in the region. We will continue to do our utmost to develop these ties.”

Prior to the meeting with President Moon, Khaldoon talked to Presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok over lunch at the Korea Furniture Museum, and to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Kim Dong Yeon, in the hopes of revitalizing dialogue channels between the economy ministers and foreign ministers in both countries.

xuaiy@korea.kr