On the 18th, when President Lee Jae-myung paid a state visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the exterior of a landmark building in Abu Dhabi, UAE, was illuminated with the Taegeukgi. Provided by the Presidential Office

Accompanying President Lee Jae-myung on his state visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik said on the 18th (local time), “In the defense industry, the two countries will establish a ‘fully integrated value-chain cooperation model’,” adding, “This will increase our companies’ chances of winning defense projects worth more than $15 billion.”

At a briefing at the Abu Dhabi Press Center that day, Chief of Staff Kang announced that the two countries had agreed to pursue defense cooperation worth $15 billion. He said, “It will create a bridgehead for securing third-country markets, not only in the Middle East and Africa but also in Europe and North America.”

In the AI field, the Korean government and companies decided to participate in the ‘UAE Stargate Project’. The UAE Stargate Project aims to build an AI data center cluster in Abu Dhabi with a capacity of up to 5 gigawatts (GW). The first 200-megawatt (MW) AI cluster is slated to begin operation next year. Ha Jeong-woo, Senior Secretary for AI Future Planning at the Presidential Office, explained at the briefing that the initial investment alone amounts to 30 trillion won. Alongside the construction of large-scale AI data centers, the project also includes establishing the power grid needed to operate them.

The two countries agreed to jointly pursue an AI port logistics project for Busan Port in Korea and Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Ha said, “There was a request from the UAE government to expand the scale of the bilateral crude oil stockpiling project from the current 400,000 barrels to 10 million barrels,” adding, “We will expand the scope of cooperation across the board, beyond nuclear power, to projects for building stable supply chains for critical minerals, among others.”

The two countries also agreed to create a ‘UAE K-City’ in the cultural sector. K-City is a new concept of a complex cluster that goes beyond a simple industrial complex by uniting culture and future industries. Chief of Staff Kang said, “The expected outcomes across defense·AI·K-culture amount to 150 trillion won,” adding, “This summit will not stop at a mere display of friendship, but will mark the start of a substantive economic alliance.”