Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik (left), who visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as President Lee Jae Myung's special envoy for strategic economic cooperation, on Feb. 26 posted on his Facebook account this photo of him shaking hands with Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of the UAE's Executive Affairs Authority. (Chief of Staff Kang's Facebook account)

By Lee Jihae

A bilateral agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) worth USD 65 billion has been concluded to pursue joint projects in the defense industry and artificial intelligence (AI).

Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik on Feb. 26 announced this at a news conference at Incheon International Airport after returning from the UAE as a special presidential envoy for strategic economic cooperation.

"The biggest achievement of this special envoy visit was the landing of cooperation projects in the defense industry worth over USD 35 billion and the signing of a memorandum of understanding on a cooperation framework for the industry," he said.

Both sides agreed to expand their relationship from a buyer and a seller of weapons and cooperate throughout the entire cycle of the defense industry, from design to education and training and maintenance. They concluded a cooperative framework for the sector that stipulates the principles of collaboration.

Seoul and Abu Dhabi agreed to jointly pursue projects worth over USD 65 billion -- USD 35 billion in the defense industry and USD 30 billion in other areas of investment cooperation.

"We decided to restructure the investment cooperation deal worth USD 30 billion based on the agreement reached by our two leaders at their summit in November last year," the official said. "Investment cooperation actively targets strategic business promotion, Korean corporate advances into the UAE and joint expansion into third countries from a financial perspective."

"We agreed to closely collaborate in fields such as nuclear fuel supply and nuclear plant maintenance capabilities, while actively pursuing joint advances into third countries given that the expanding global market for nuclear power due to surging electricity demand for AI and other applications.”

To raise cooperation in sectors such as AI, cutting-edge technology, culture and education, both sides will operate biweekly working groups for each sector.

Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of the UAE's Executive Affairs Authority, will visit Korea next month or in April to continue detailed discussions.

While in the UAE, Chief of Staff Kang paid a courtesy call on UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and gave him a letter from President Lee Jae Myung. The Korean official also met Chairman Al Mubarak three times and gave him Dubai chewy cookies, a trendy dessert that originated in Korea and was inspired by the Dubai chocolate trend that swept Korea in 2024.

jihlee08@korea.kr