Large-Scale Korea-Saudi Defense Deal Expected... "The Scale and Amount Are Quite Significant"

President Yoon's State Visit to Saudi Arabia Marks Final Stage of Defense Industry Cooperation Discussions
"A New Blue Ocean for Saudi Cooperation... Long-term and Systematic, Not One-time"
Korea and Saudi Arabia Hold Multiple Defense Cooperation Talks... Yoon Shares "Defense Innovation Vision"

Discussions on large-scale defense industry cooperation between South Korea and Saudi Arabia have entered the final stage. With President Yoon Suk-yeol's state visit to Saudi Arabia as an opportunity, export contracts in various fields such as air defense systems and firepower weapons are expected to be concluded soon. Although the Saudi side has not disclosed the national security reasons or detailed contract scale, the Presidential Office explained that the scale and amount are expected to be substantial.

Kim Tae-hyo, the First Deputy Director of the National Security Office, held a briefing at the press center set up in Riyadh on the 22nd (local time) and said, "Defense projects are emerging as a new blue ocean in cooperation with Saudi Arabia," and that such defense cooperation programs between the two countries are being discussed. In particular, Deputy Director Kim described the defense cooperation between the two countries as a "long-term and systematic" process rather than a one-time cooperation. Judging that it will be a driving force to further expand our defense export achievements, he stated, "We will use this Middle East tour as a catalyst to expand the scope of our defense export market."

President Yoon Suk-yeol, on a state visit to Saudi Arabia, attended the official welcoming ceremony held at Yamama Palace in Riyadh on the 22nd (local time) and is moving to the meeting room while conversing with Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

President Yoon has been laying the groundwork for expanding defense and defense industry cooperation with the Saudi side. Since the visit of Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Korea in November last year, discussions on defense industry cooperation centered on the 'Korea-Saudi Vision 2030 Committee' have continued. At that time, the Saudi side expressed a desire for hardware and software cooperation to strengthen defense capabilities.

In March, President Yoon met with Saudi Minister of Defense Khalid bin Salman Al Saud to discuss strengthening defense and defense industry cooperation. President Yoon expressed sympathy for Saudi Arabia's defense innovation efforts, saying, "If the two countries share experiences and visions of defense innovation, greater synergy effects can be expected," and announced, "Korea plans to actively promote defense industry cooperation with Saudi Arabia."

Ahead of President Yoon's state visit to Saudi Arabia, Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik met with Khaled bin Hussein Al-Biyari, Deputy Minister of Defense for Political Affairs, to discuss defense and defense industry issues between the two countries. Minister Shin explained various domestically produced weapon systems exhibited at the 'Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition' (Seoul ADEX), and Deputy Minister Al-Biyari responded, "Let us further strengthen cooperation in the defense sector, including mutual visits of senior military officials, joint exercises, and doctrine areas."

The Saudi side highly evaluates the defense systems equipped with K-defense, which feature high performance, cost-effectiveness, and rapid delivery. Deputy Director Kim also explained, "We intend to cooperate so that weapon systems applying our excellent defense technology will help strengthen Saudi Arabia's defense capabilities." However, the detailed contents of the contract to be concluded soon were not disclosed. Due to threat factors around Saudi Arabia such as Middle East incidents, if the weapon systems and scale contracted with us are disclosed, neighboring countries could track them. A Presidential Office official added, "(The purchase contract) is at the stage of being finalized, and the scale and amount are quite large."

The South Korean government expects that if this contract is successfully completed, demand and interest in our weapon systems will increase not only in the Middle East but also worldwide, including Europe and Southeast Asia. On the 17th, President Yoon personally attended Seoul ADEX and said to delegations from 57 countries, "Our government will establish an ecosystem where the defense industry can continuously grow and enhance global competitiveness," and "We will share our defense industry's growth experience with allied countries and build a defense security cooperation system."

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