South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol received an honour guard welcome in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, as reports of a $30 billion investment in South Korea’s industries by the UAE across arms and energy point to decades of closer economic cooperation.
The investment decision was announced as Yoon Suk-yeol met his UAE counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi during a four-day state visit, Yoon’s office said.
Yoon’s visit comes as South Korea conducts business deals worth billions of dollars and stations special forces troops to defend the UAE, an arrangement that drew criticism under his liberal predecessor.
Now, however, it appears the conservative leader wants to double down on those military links even as tensions with neighbouring Iran have already seen Tehran seize a South Korean oil tanker in 2021.
“I think that the situation in the Middle East is changing very rapidly when it comes to geopolitics,” said June Park, a fellow with the International Strategy Forum at Schmidt Futures. “So Korea wants to make sure some of the strategic partnerships and the components … with the UAE.”
