Page 197 - 2018 Defense White Paper

Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and ambassadors of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan to

the ROK. The of f icials exchanged constructive views to promote peace and common prosperity
in Eurasia, and decided to continue developing a sustainable defense exchange and cooperation
platform for confidence building and the enhancement of bilateral relations.

| Middle East | The Middle East has signif icant value as a major supplier of energy resources
in the world. The ROK has strived to strengthen defense cooperation with countries in the

region.
The ROK and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have developed their relationship in various
areas, including economy, society, and culture, since the establishment of diplomatic relations

in 1980. The two countries’ relationship was upgraded to a “strategic partnership” in 2009,
and the ROK has been operating the Akh Unit in the UAE since January 2011 after obtaining
the consent of the National Assembly. Their relationship was further elevated to a “special
strategic partnership” in March 2018 when President Moon Jae-in and Crown Prince of Abu

Dhabi Mohammed Al-Nahyan hosted a summit, and agreed to strengthen and expand bilateral
cooperation with the creation of a foreign affairs and defense consultative body. In April 2018,

the ROK Minister of National Defense visited the UAE with the Minister of the Defense
Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and the President of the Agency for Defense Chapter 5
Development (ADD) to follow up on the summit. In addition to paying a visit to the crown
prince, the ROK off icials held a meeting with the UAE Minister of State for Defense, and

agreed to bolster and expand bilateral defense cooperation and defense industrial cooperation.
In October 2018, the UAE Undersecretary of Defense visited the ROK and held Vice-
st
Ministerial talks as well as the 1 Foreign Affairs and Defense Meeting. In December, the UAE
Minister of State for Defense visited the ROK and held defense ministerial talks with the ROK
Minister of National Defense. Through such active mutual exchanges, the ROK and the UAE
are maintaining stable cooperation.

In March 2017, during the ROK Vice Defense Minister’s visit to Egypt, the ROK and Egypt
signed an MOU on defense cooperation and agreed to expand bilateral defense cooperation
in various f ields including logistics and military education and training. In September 2017,

Egypt’s Minister of Defense made an off icial visit to the ROK and held bilateral talks with the
ROK Minister of National Defense. Egypt’s Defense Minister expressed active support for the
ROK’s policy toward North Korea, and the Defense Ministers of the two countries agreed on

Section 3 Expansion of Defense Exchanges and Cooperation 195