South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and his United Arab Emirates (UAE) counterpart, Mohamed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, on Tuesday discussed ways to strengthen bilateral defense cooperation and seek joint development in the arms industry, the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea said in a statement.
The Defense Chiefs met in Seoul for the Ministerial Joint Higher Military Committee meeting, less than a month after President Lee Jae Myung and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation in Artificial Intelligence (AI), defense industry and energy sectors during their summit talks in Abu Dhabi.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Ahn noted that defense and arms industry cooperation has played a pivotal role in driving their bilateral ties, Yonhap news agency reported.
In response, the UAE Defense Minister said such cooperation will become the foundation for a mutually beneficial relationship, according to the Ministry.
In the defense sector, the Ministers agreed to expand cooperation in high-tech areas, such as cyber affairs, space and AI and factor in personnel exchanges, military education and combined drills for mid- to long-term planning.
In the arms industry, they agreed to establish a cooperative model that seeks the joint development and export of weapons systems, the Ministry added.
On 06 August 2025, senior defense officials of Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) held talks to discuss the security situation and ways to advance their defense and arms industry cooperation, Seoul’s defense ministry said.
The Vice Defense Ministerial-level steering committee meeting was also held in Seoul between Korea’s Vice Defense Minister Lee Doo-hee and his UAE counterpart, Ibrahim Nasser Mohammed Al Alawi.
In the meeting, the officials agreed to expand joint training and exchanges of personnel and push for long-term cooperation in the arms industry and the defense science and technology sector.
They also exchanged opinions on key issues, including the security situation, in which the UAE official expressed support for dialogue and diplomacy in Seoul’s efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula, according to the Korean Ministry of National Defense.
As part of the visit, Al Alawi paid a courtesy call on Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back the previous day. He later visited a Korean Air Base in the southern city of Sacheon for a test flight of a prototype of Korea’s homegrown KF-21 fighter jet.
In April 2025, the two countries signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) for comprehensive cooperation on the KF-21 jets. (Sources & Photo © South Korean Ministry of National Defense/Yonhap)
