[Photo] President Moon calls for strengthening strategic partnership with UAE

South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited the UAE on Mar. 25 and spoke of the need to further deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries during a meeting with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Moon referenced the $18.6 billion Barakah nuclear power plant, located west of Abu Dhabi and built as a joint-venture between Korea Electric Power Co. and the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, as having laid the foundation for cooperation between the two sides. The first of four planned reactors is scheduled to become operational later this year.

The president’s visit comes amidst controversy over a secret defense agreement that was signed between the UAE and the Lee Myung-bak administration in which South Korea pledged to dispatch its military in an emergency situation. Kim Tae-young, a former defense minister during the Lee administration, told the Joongang Ilbo that the agreement was, “low risk...[because] the UAE is a country in which war hasn’t taken place in a long time.” Houthi rebels, which are currently engaged in a civil war in Yemen and have recently launched rockets into Saudi Arabia, claimed to have targeted the nuclear plant during the UAE’s National Day celebrations this past December, according to a report from the Washington Post. (by Kim Kyung-ho, staff photographer)