President Lee Jae-myung's state visit to the United Arab Emirates during his four-nation Middle East and Africa tour resulted in a joint declaration with President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan titled 'A New Leap for 100 Years of Korea-UAE Partnership.' The declaration highlights Korea's expanded diplomatic outlook and new cooperation in AI, space exploration, health care, and cultural exchange. Domestic policy coherence on energy is urged to support these gains.
President Lee Jae-myung's four-nation tour of the Middle East and Africa has opened a significant chapter in Korea's diplomatic engagement. The state visit to the United Arab Emirates culminated in a joint declaration with President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, confirming Korea's commitment to supporting the UAE's vision of becoming one of the world's foremost nations by 2071. This reflects Seoul's intention to broaden its strategic outlook beyond the traditional U.S.-China-Japan orbit to emerging regions.
The summit expanded bilateral cooperation, adding artificial intelligence (AI), space exploration, health care, and cultural exchange to long-standing pillars like investment, defense, nuclear energy, and conventional energy. A key agreement is to pursue third-country nuclear power projects based on the Barakah model. The four Barakah reactors, built by Korea and completed last year, generate roughly one-quarter of the UAE's electricity, serving as a testament to Korean engineering.
For Seoul, the UAE positions as a strategic launchpad for deeper engagement in Middle Eastern and African energy markets. Defense cooperation, which gained momentum with the 2017 export of the Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher, is set to evolve toward joint development and localized production.
This momentum aligns with a global nuclear renaissance: the United States plans 10 new reactors by 2030, the United Kingdom is advancing small modular reactors (SMRs), and Japan has restarted reactors post-2011 Fukushima. Korea's access to North American and European markets is constrained by technology agreements with Westinghouse, heightening the importance of Middle East and Africa partnerships.
Domestically, however, the government's stance on new reactors and SMRs remains ambivalent, risking credibility. The 11th Basic Plan for Power Supply and Demand envisions two new large reactors with site selection this year, but decisions are deferred for public deliberation. Korea's AI plans, including 260,000 GPUs from Nvidia requiring electricity equivalent to nearly half a large reactor's output, underscore the need for stable energy.
These diplomatic strides offer economic and strategic opportunities, but require internal coherence to align domestic energy strategy with international ambitions.