Yoon Personally Oversees '2800 Trillion Won' Asset Holder... From Development to Defense and Energy (Comprehensive)

-President Yoon and First Lady Decide to Hold Talks at Hannam-dong Residence... "Saudi Arabia, South Korea's Largest Middle East Partner"
-Crown Prince Bin Salman Mentions "Dramatic Strengthening of Cooperation with Korea in Energy, Defense, Infrastructure"

[Asia Economy Reporters Baek Kyunghwan and Lee Gimin] On the 17th, President Yoon Seok-yeol met with Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and agreed to dramatically strengthen bilateral cooperation in areas such as energy, defense industry, infrastructure, and construction. As part of developing bilateral relations into a future-oriented strategic partnership, they also agreed to establish a Strategic Partnership Committee. Taking advantage of Crown Prince bin Salman's visit, the two countries plan to prepare substantial cooperation measures worth tens of trillions of won, including investment cooperation for the S-Oil Phase 2 project, signing over 20 memorandums of understanding (MOUs), and expanding opportunities to participate in the NEOM City project, while also cooperating to stabilize regional situations including the Korean Peninsula.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆First visit in 3 years... Dramatic strengthening of cooperation in energy, defense, infrastructure, and construction= On the morning of the day, President Yoon held an expanded meeting, a private meeting, and an official luncheon with Crown Prince bin Salman at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong. This is the first visit of Crown Prince bin Salman to Korea in three years since 2019.

President Yoon said, "Saudi Arabia is our largest trading partner in the Middle East and a partner country in overseas construction, serving as a key partner for our economy and energy security," adding, "Now is the right time to elevate bilateral relations to a new level as Saudi Arabia opens a new future through 'Vision 2030' led by Crown Prince Mohammed." Crown Prince bin Salman responded, "Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Korean companies have greatly contributed to the development of Saudi national infrastructure," and "Based on the trust accumulated in this process, I hope to strengthen cooperation with Korea to realize Saudi 'Vision 2030.'"

In particular, Crown Prince bin Salman emphasized, "I want to dramatically strengthen cooperation with Korea in three areas: energy, defense industry, and infrastructure/construction." The presidential office elaborated that in the energy sector, cooperation is hoped for in hydrogen energy development, carbon capture technology, small modular reactor (SMR) development, and nuclear power workforce training, while in the defense sector, cooperation in hardware and software to strengthen Saudi defense capabilities is desired.

They also agreed to establish a 'Strategic Partnership Committee.' Furthermore, centered on the 'Korea-Saudi Vision 2030 Committee,' they agreed to further strengthen cooperation to produce tangible results in various fields such as energy, investment, defense cooperation, cultural and human exchanges, and tourism.

On the day, Crown Prince bin Salman highly praised the Korean government's efforts to deter threats from North Korea and achieve denuclearization, reaffirming support for the Yoon administration's 'Bold Initiative.' The presidential office stated, "President Yoon and Crown Prince Mohammed exchanged views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East region during their meeting." In particular, President Yoon and Crown Prince bin Salman strongly condemned North Korea's ongoing provocations and agreed that if North Korea carries out a major provocation such as a seventh nuclear test, they will respond firmly as responsible members of the G20 and the international community.

◆Korea-Saudi sign agreements worth tens of trillions of won coinciding with talks= Korea and Saudi Arabia signed investment and business MOUs worth tens of trillions of won coinciding with Crown Prince bin Salman's visit to Korea. If cooperation proceeds as planned, expectations are rising that Korea can enjoy a 'second Middle East boom.'

The two governments held an investment forum at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul and signed MOUs one after another. The forum was attended by Minister Lee Chang-yang of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Minister Khalid Al-Falih of the Saudi Ministry of Investment, who witnessed the MOU signing ceremony. The number of MOUs and investment contracts signed between the two countries on the day were 23 and 3, respectively. The planned project costs for each MOU are in the trillions of won.

Specifically, Hyundai Rotem signed an MOU with the Saudi Ministry of Investment for cooperation on the NEOM City railway. The main point is to build railway infrastructure within NEOM City. If Hyundai Rotem wins the Saudi high-speed railway project in the future, it will be the first export success of domestically produced high-speed trains. The Saudi high-speed railway project is worth 2.5 trillion won. Cooperation in next-generation energy fields is also being pursued. Korea Electric Power Corporation, Samsung C&T, and three other companies signed an MOU with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) for green hydrogen development cooperation. This project involves investing 6.5 billion dollars (about 8.6 trillion won) to build a 400,000 square meter green hydrogen production complex in Yanbu on the Saudi Red Sea coast from 2025 to 2029. Green hydrogen is eco-friendly hydrogen obtained by splitting water using electricity generated from renewable energy such as solar power.

Large-scale investment from the Saudi side was also made. Saudi state-owned company Aramco's subsidiary S-Oil confirmed plans to promote the 'Shaheen (meaning falcon in Arabic) Project,' a mega petrochemical business investing about 8 trillion won in Ulsan, and signed EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) contracts with three domestic construction companies. This is the largest single foreign investment made in Korea.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆'Special Courtesy'... President Yoon proposed holding talks at the presidential residence= The two governments evaluate that the intimacy between the two countries has greatly increased through the meeting between President Yoon and Crown Prince bin Salman. This was influenced by President Yoon's decision to hold the talks at the Hannam-dong presidential residence to show special courtesy to Crown Prince bin Salman.

In fact, the high-level talks that lasted about 40 minutes were held in the reception hall, and the private conversation between President Yoon and Crown Prince bin Salman also lasted about 40 minutes in the family space (living room and garden). While working-level talks between the Korean and Saudi ministers were underway, the president and the crown prince took a walk in the garden accompanied only by interpreters and held a private conversation.

Before the construction of the Hannam-dong residence was completed, President Yoon hosted guests at the Yongsan Presidential Office building. Previously, meetings with visiting heads of state such as U.S. President Joe Biden, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier were all held at the presidential office. The fact that the residence talks were held this time is partly because the residence construction was only recently completed, but it can also be interpreted as the Korean government paying special attention to Crown Prince bin Salman's visit. In fact, all meetings and joint press announcements scheduled for the afternoon, including a preliminary talk between President Yoon and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, will be held at the Yongsan Presidential Office.

The number of attendees at the residence was not small. On the Korean side, the Minister of Strategy and Finance, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defense, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Chief of Presidential Secretariat, Director of National Security Office, First Deputy Director of National Security Office, Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs, Senior Secretary for Public Relations, and Ambassador to Saudi Arabia were present. On the Saudi side, the Minister of Energy, Minister of State, Minister of Interior, Minister of National Guard, Minister of Defense, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of State and National Security Advisor, Minister of Commerce and Acting Minister of Information, Minister of Investment, Minister of Economic Planning, and Governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) attended.

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