Ahn Gyu-baek Visits Iraq... Meets Prime Minister and Defense Minister to Discuss Defense and Defense Industry Cooperation

Minister of National Defense Ahn Gyu-baek held consecutive meetings with the Prime Minister of Iraq as well as the Ministers of Defense and Interior to discuss ways to enhance cooperation in defense and the defense industry.

The Ministry of National Defense announced on the 25th that, on the previous day (local time), Minister Ahn paid a courtesy visit to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad, Iraq, and met with Minister of Defense Thabet Mohammed Saeed Al-Abbasi and Minister of Interior Abdul Amir al-Shammari.

During his meeting with Prime Minister al-Sudani, Minister Ahn highlighted that Iraq, as one of Korea’s four main crude oil import sources, has been a key partner in energy security and has contributed to mutually beneficial development. As of last year, Iraq was one of Korea’s top four crude oil suppliers, providing 100 million barrels.

Prime Minister al-Sudani highly praised Korea’s role in Iraq’s national development and reconstruction over the past 50 years, stating, "I look forward to further expanding the close relationship between our two countries into the fields of defense and defense industry cooperation."

In his meeting with Minister Al-Abbasi, the two sides positively assessed the achievements of bilateral defense cooperation that began with the deployment of the Zaytun Unit for Iraq’s peace and reconstruction. They discussed expanding personnel and military education exchanges, as well as cooperation in the construction of Iraqi naval and air force bases, and other ways to broaden defense and defense industry cooperation between the two countries.

Additionally, Minister Ahn and Minister of Interior al-Shammari exchanged views on strengthening various forms of bilateral cooperation, including military education exchanges and the development of scientific border surveillance systems. The Iraqi Ministry of Interior is responsible for domestic security, immigration, border control, and disaster response, and also operates paramilitary organizations such as the federal police and border guard units.

Minister Ahn stated, "As the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Korea, I consider this visit to Iraq-the first in about 20 years-to be highly meaningful. I hope that the relationship between Korea and Iraq will continue to strengthen in a wide range of areas, including not only energy and construction, but also defense and defense industry cooperation."

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