Vice Minister Choi Jong-geon: "Cancellation of UAE Summit Was a Meeting of Minds"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Choi Jong-geon, the First Vice Foreign Minister, recently commented on the sudden cancellation of the summit between South Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) just before it was scheduled, saying, "In the language of diplomacy, there is something like telepathy."

On the morning of the 20th, Choi appeared on TBS Radio's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' and said, "It is a very important issue from the perspective of national security and the country's interests, and since it was unexpected, there are cases where both sides understand and move on, saying it cannot be helped."

He added, "There was no unpleasantness, and the UAE side also said in very, very polite language just before President Moon Jae-in's departure that an unexpected situation had occurred."

President Moon Jae-in, who is on a tour of the Middle East, was scheduled to hold a summit with Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, on the 17th (local time), but was notified of the cancellation just before the meeting due to circumstances on the Crown Prince's side.

As a result, although President Moon directly visited the UAE, instead of a face-to-face meeting, he had a phone conversation with the Crown Prince, which raised criticism as a diplomatic faux pas.

The UAE side has not disclosed the reason for the cancellation, but there is speculation that it was because they detected in advance a drone attack on Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, by the Houthi rebel forces from Yemen on the 17th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.