President Moon Returns Home After Middle East Tour... Likely to Focus on Omicron Response

Official Duties to Commence Starting Next Week

President Moon Jae-in Arrives at Seongnam Seoul Airport
(Cairo=Yonhap News) Reporter Seo Myeong-gon = President Moon Jae-in and First Lady Kim Jung-sook, returning from a tour of three Middle Eastern countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, arrived at Seongnam Seoul Airport on the morning of the 22nd and are disembarking from Air Force One to move. 2022.1.22
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[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] President Moon Jae-in returned to Seoul Airport on the 22nd after completing an 8-day, 6-night tour of the Middle East.

During this tour, President Moon focused his diplomatic efforts on strengthening defense industry cooperation with three Middle Eastern countries: the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. A representative achievement was the 4 trillion won arms export contract signed with the UAE. During a meeting with Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, President Moon signed a 4 trillion won contract for the export of the 'Cheongung-II' missile system. This is the largest single domestic weapons contract to date.

Discussions on defense exports with Saudi Arabia and Egypt, where additional achievements were expected, did not reach a conclusion. However, it is reported that behind-the-scenes negotiations for the export of K-9 self-propelled howitzers to Egypt have made significant progress. Some speculate that a contract agreement could be reached soon.

President Moon Jae-in Riding a Vehicle Supplied by Hyundai Rotem in Egypt
(Cairo=Yonhap News) Reporter Seo Myeong-gon = President Moon Jae-in, who is on a tour of three Middle Eastern countries, visited Adly Mansour Station on Cairo Metro Line 3 on the 21st (local time) and boarded a newly manufactured train by Hyundai Rotem. He received a briefing and engaged in discussions regarding the operation and depot status of Line 3. 2022.1.21
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President Moon also devoted efforts to strengthening hydrogen cooperation frameworks between Korea and the Middle East. During his visit to Saudi Arabia, he met with Nayef Al Hajraf, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and declared the resumption of negotiations for the 'Korea-GCC Free Trade Agreement (FTA),' which had been suspended since 2010. In the UAE, he visited the '2020 Dubai Expo' and voluntarily took on the role of ambassador to promote the bid for the 2030 Busan Expo.

After returning to Seoul, President Moon will resume official duties starting next week. He is expected to focus on fulfilling national agenda tasks in the final phase of his term. In particular, with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 expected to become the dominant strain domestically, establishing related quarantine and medical systems is identified as the top priority.

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