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[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] With President Yoon Suk-yeol's state visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Korea's collapsed related export ecosystem has officially entered a recovery phase. It is evaluated as the result of President Yoon, who cited 'nuclear power' as a reason for his political participation, persistently pushing through multiple summit meetings and the restoration of the nuclear power industry during his eight months in office.

According to the Presidential Office on the 17th, President Yoon and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan promised additional nuclear cooperation between Korea and the UAE and joint entry into third countries through the Korea-UAE summit and a visit to the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant.

The nuclear cooperation with the UAE, which had become distant due to the denuclearization policy over the past five years, is also being restored. The Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, built in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi, was the first overseas nuclear power plant contract won by Korea in 2009 and the first nuclear power plant in the Middle East. Former President Moon visited the site during his visit to the UAE in 2018 but did not visit it during his January visit this year.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon's consistent emphasis on realizing carbon neutrality through the restoration of the nuclear power industry ecosystem and export strategies is evaluated as a foothold for cooperation with the UAE this time.

President Yoon, who resigned from the position of Prosecutor General due to the investigation into the alleged manipulation of the economic feasibility of the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant and the arrest warrant request for former Minister of Industry and Energy Baek Woon-gyu amid pressure from the complete removal of prosecutorial investigative rights (known as 검수완박), met Joo Han-kyu, then a professor of nuclear engineering at Seoul National University and chairman of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, on July 5, 2021, shortly after declaring his presidential candidacy, as part of his first public livelihood activities.

On November 29 of the same year, as the People Power Party's presidential candidate, President Yoon visited the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute and Korea Nuclear Fuel in the Daedeok Research Complex, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, and strongly criticized the denuclearization policy, saying, "It is one of the fields that blatantly throws away fairness and common sense, clearly showing why regime change must happen."

Even after taking office, he has consistently emphasized measures to restore the nuclear power industry ecosystem and exports through visits to nuclear power companies, a 100-day press conference, weekly meetings with the Prime Minister, emergency economic and livelihood meetings, and 2023 work reports.

Just 42 days after taking office, on June 22 last year, President Yoon attended a meeting of nuclear industry cooperation companies held at the headquarters of Doosan Enerbility in Changwon, Gyeongnam, and promised to restore the related industrial ecosystem, saying, "If we had not done foolish things for five years and had built this nuclear ecosystem more solidly, I am confident that there would be no competitors now."

At that time, the government announced plans to invest 670 billion won in nuclear research and development (R&D) last year and more than 3 trillion won from 2023 to 2025, as well as plans to supply liquidity worth 399.2 billion won for the development and commercialization of an independent small modular reactor (SMR) model and 380 billion won for policy funds, technology guarantees, and loans to small and medium-sized enterprises and partner companies in the nuclear industry.

On October 27 of the same year, at the 11th Emergency Economic and Livelihood Meeting, he emphasized the need for a precise export strategy as both nuclear power and defense industries are closely related to national security and are being pursued as a package, and on the morning of December 28, at the Blue House State Guest House, he stressed the importance of the nuclear industry and nuclear utilization during the 2023 work reports from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Personal Information Protection Commission, and the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

At the same time, President Yoon personally entered the bidding battles. After taking office, he established communication channels related to new nuclear power plant construction projects through summit meetings with the United Kingdom and Poland during the NATO summit last June and the Korea-Netherlands summit in November last year. In August of the same year, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power won a contract worth 3 trillion won for supplying equipment and constructing buildings and structures for the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant in Egypt.

Taking advantage of this visit to the UAE, President Yoon plans to expand the horizon beyond traditional fields such as additional nuclear power plant orders, third-country entry, and energy and infrastructure construction to package exports including defense industry and ICT (Information and Communication Technology). The reason President Yoon led ministers and Korean businesspeople to visit the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant during this economic-focused tour was also to secure opportunities.

Upon hearing President Yoon's plan, UAE President Mohammed expressed strong support, saying, "We are very proud that we have strengthened the UAE's clean power portfolio and set global standards for nuclear power projects." In particular, a senior official of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) unofficially mentioned that "if Korea Electric Power Corporation makes a good request, we will consider it." Regarding joint entry into third countries, this official said, "We are pursuing it with the United Kingdom in mind," and added, "I understand that substantial discussions have already taken place and agreements have been made."

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