Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Saturday, Aug 09, 2025

South Korea’s president aims to ramp up arms sales to UAE

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol traveled to the UAE on Sunday seeking to capitalize on new opportunities for weapons sales. Seoul is deepening its defense ties with Abu Dhabi as the Emirates pivot away from relying on Washington for military support in the wake of the botched US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Yoon arrived in Abu Dhabi for a state visit and was welcomed at the presidential palace with an honor guard and military air show. UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced plans to invest $30 billion in South Korea, telling Yonhap News, “We decided to make the investment with confidence in the Republic of Korea that keeps its promises under all circumstances.”

South Korea is already building a massive nuclear power plant in the UAE and has been sending commandoes to the Emirates since 2015 to provide military training. The two governments signed agreements on Sunday to deepen ties in such areas as technology and energy, including an oil-stockpiling deal, as well as defense.

“The atmosphere is extremely ripe for security or military cooperation between South Korea and the UAE involving the arms industry,” a presidential office official in Abu Dhabi told Yonhap.

That ripening reportedly began after the chaotic US exit from Afghanistan in August 2021. “The mishandling of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan raised doubts in the region not only about the US willingness to honor its defense commitments, but also its capacity to do so,” according to the Middle East Institute, a Washington think tank.

A few months after the Afghan debacle, in December 2021, the UAE suspended deals to buy $23 billion in US-made F-35 fighter jets and attack drones. A month later, Abu Dhabi agreed to purchase an M-SAM air-defense system from South Korea for $3.5 billion. The M-SAM was developed in cooperation with Russia, based partly on technology used in S-350E and S-400 missile systems.

US officials had reportedly imposed demands on the UAE to win approval for the F-35 deal, including halting a Chinese company’s construction of a logistics port, refusing to use 5G telecommunications equipment from China’s Huawei, backing away from technology partnerships with Beijing and agreeing to remote monitoring of the fighter jets by Washington.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
×