Kang Hoon-sik Delivers President Lee's Letter to UAE During Middle East Visit: "Preparing Achievements in AI and Defense"

President Lee to Make State Visit to the UAE
Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik Visits as Special Envoy for Strategic Economic Cooperation

Kang Hoon-sik, Chief Presidential Secretary, who visited the Middle East as the President's Special Envoy for Strategic Economic Cooperation, announced that he delivered a personal letter from President Lee Jae-myung to the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Yonhap News Agency

On the 16th, Kang wrote on Facebook, "I paid a courtesy visit to President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE and personally delivered a letter from our President expressing the intent to elevate the cooperative relationship between our two countries to a new level."

He added, "This coming Monday, the President's first state visit will take place in the UAE," and explained, "We are preparing to achieve tangible results in key areas of cooperation such as artificial intelligence (AI), defense technology, energy, and logistics, as well as to expand into fields like culture and halal food."

Kang also shared that he met with Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, the Korean Affairs Envoy overseeing cooperation with the UAE and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority, as well as Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). He also visited AI and advanced technology investment companies established with investments from Mubadala, the UAE sovereign wealth fund.

Kang explained, "Chairman Khaldoon demonstrated his sincerity about this meeting by inviting the Minister of State, the Minister in charge of AI and healthcare, and the Secretary-General of the Advanced Technology Research Council responsible for defense technology. Afterwards, Chairman Khaldoon personally invited me to his home, where we had lunch together and discussed matters comfortably."

Meanwhile, Kang noted, "It was clear that the UAE is no longer relying solely on traditional underground resource revenues, but is focusing on the future with AI and clean energy technologies." He added, "We also confirmed the potential for comprehensive expansion of cooperation between the two countries in line with the changing international landscape."