South Korea strengthens defense ties in Middle East
Felix Kim
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik demonstrated the value of defense diplomacy with a tour of three Middle Eastern countries in February 2024, where he signed defense agreements and a $3.2 billion arms deal. Shin’s trip to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) followed South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visits to the region in October 2023 and reflects Seoul’s growing defense exports.
During Shin’s first stop in Abu Dhabi, he and UAE Defense Affairs Minister Mohammed bin Mubarak Fadhel Al Mazrouei reviewed 15 years of bilateral defense cooperation, pledging to strengthen it in line with their nations’ status as special strategic partners, Seoul’s National Defense Ministry reported.
Shin said the meeting was “creating momentum” toward arms deals.
“I expect defense industry cooperation with South Korea to continue to grow as a future-oriented one, based on long-standing trust,” Al Mazrouei said.
The day after the meeting, Shin attended a lunch with 150 members of the Akh Unit, a Republic of Korea military contingent stationed in the UAE to provide training support and conduct joint exercises with UAE special forces.
In Riyadh, Shin and Saudi National Guard Minister Abdullah bin Bandar Al Saud agreed to ramp up defense industry collaboration, and to increase personnel exchanges and joint training between their nations’ militaries.
While in Saudi Arabia, Shin signed an export deal for South Korea’s medium-range, surface-to-air missile interceptor system, known as Cheongung II, valued at about $3.2 billion, The Korea Herald newspaper reported. The two nations also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) “consolidating a foundation for defense industry cooperation,” South Korea’s National Defense Ministry noted.
In Doha, Shin and Qatar Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah, who also is deputy prime minister, signed an MOU on conducting regular defense ministerial meetings and developing an institutional foundation for defense cooperation, Seoul’s government-affiliated news agency Yonhap reported.
Qatar and South Korea upgraded their relationship to comprehensive strategic partners during Yoon’s October 2023 visit to Doha.
Since Yoon took office in May 2022, South Korea has exported about $15 billion worth of defense items and services, Shin said at the second biennial World Defense Show in Riyadh in early February. South Korea is seeking to become one of the world’s leading defense sector exporters by diversifying its weapons systems and customers, he said.
“The South Korean economy is very heavily oriented as being an export economy,” Dr. Bruce Bennett, a Rand Corp. expert on Northeast Asian military issues, told FORUM. Defense diplomacy has played a key role in Seoul’s recent export successes.
“In military technology, they have been extremely proactive in trying to get deals,” Bennett said. “The South Koreans have, for well over a decade, postured themselves as providing near high-end systems that … were significantly less expensive in order to kind of carve out a niche in the market. And they’ve sold to a number of countries.”
Felix Kim is a FORUM correspondent based in Seoul, South Korea
