South Korea, UAE sign $3.5 billion defense agreement

Asia-Pacific, Middle East, News January 19, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

South Korea signed a $3.5 billion defense agreement with the United Arab Emirates to export midrange surface-to-air missiles, marking the East Asian nation’s largest-ever weapons export deal in history.

The Cheongung II KM-SAM weapons contract was signed on January 16 during South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s visit to the UAE. South Korean president arrived in UAE on January 15, during his three countries’ visit, which included stops in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

During the South Korean president’s official visit, he met with Emirati Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei in Dubai and discussed bilateral cooperation.

The UAE and South Korea signed a number of agreements during President Jae-in’s visit to attend the Korea Day ceremony at Expo 2020 Dubai.

On the sidelines of the meeting, the UAE’s Ministry of Defense and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration of South Korea signed a memorandum of understanding on medium and long-term cooperation in the defense industry and technology fields.

South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said in a news release, “The UAE is the first foreign nation to operate the Cheongung II. The deal is the result of the bilateral defense cooperation based on mutual trust and will serve as a watershed moment for the future direction of the two nation’s strategic defense partnership.”

DAPA added that in addition to the missile procurement contract, the two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on defense technologies, including the joint development of weapons systems.

The M-SAM system, also known as Cheongung II, is South Korea’s multi-layered anti-missile program. The missile uses “hit-to-kill” technology and is designed to intercept enemy missiles at altitudes below 25 miles (40 kilometers). It has anti-electronic warfare capabilities and can intercept up to six missiles, with a detection range of 62 miles (100 kilometers).

The KM-SAM was originally developed by the Korean Defense Development Agency with technical support from Russian companies. It was based on technology from the 9M96 missile used in the S-350E and S-400 missile systems.

*^{South Korea’s midrange surface-to-air Cheongung II. (Hanwha Defense)}*

UAE Vice President and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid applauded the relations between the UAE and South Korea and their enthusiasm to further promote bilateral ties in various fields, according to the Emirates News Agency.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said that South Korea is the UAE’s top trade partner and “the strategic partnership between the UAE and Korea provides many opportunities to enhance cooperation in various fields, including economy, trade, food security, health, culture, space, energy and tourism.”

According to Sheikh Mohammed, during the next phase, the UAE plans to draw a plan “to further expand cooperation in areas of common interest, as well as explore development opportunities in priority sectors.”

Over the past decade, the two countries have intensified defense cooperation, with South Korean elite special forces traveling to the UAE to train Emirati troops.

During his trip to Saudi Arabia, South Korean President Moon met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on January 18, and the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council Nayef Al-Hajraf on Jan 19.

According to South Korea’s presidential office, the regional union of six Gulf Arab nations and South Korea agreed to resume free trade negotiations in the first quarter of 2022, as both sides aim to complete the negotiations as early as possible.

After his Saudi Arabia trip, Moon will meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo on January 20, South Korean news agency Yonhap said.