President Park Geun-hye is scheduled to visit Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar between March 1 and 9. She plans to have bilateral summits with heads of the four nations and to discuss ways to solidify bilateral cooperation, the current situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the Middle East and current affairs.


In Kuwait, the first leg of her visit, President Park is set to have a bilateral meeting with Emir Sabah IV Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to discuss substantive ways to develop bilateral cooperation in the areas of energy, construction, transportation, public health and IT. The two heads of state also plan to carry out in-depth discussions on ways to bring peace and security to the Korean Peninsula and to the Middle East.

President Park will then have a summit with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Saudi Arabia, the second country on her itinerary, where she is scheduled to meet some other royal members and will attend economic and cultural events. During the bilateral summit, the two heads of state are expected to talk about a wide variety of topics from diplomatic security through to energy, nuclear power, construction, investment, public security, medicine and IT.

Afterward, she will pay a visit to the UAE and finally to Qatar, host nation of the 2022 World Cup. This will be the first meeting in four months between President Park and Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, since they met last November when the emir paid a visit to Korea. In Qatar, President Park will have a bilateral summit, attend cultural events and meet with business leaders. She is expected to talk about bilateral ties that have developed over the past four decades and confirm the necessity to develop future-oriented ties.

President Park's visit to the Middle East is expected to be a great opportunity to solidify substantive and cooperative relations with the four countries and to secure their cooperation in bringing peaceful unification on the Korean Peninsula.

By Lee Seung-ah
Photo: Cheong Wa Dae
Korea.net Staff Writer
slee27@korea.kr