Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates-January 15, 2023

Editing by John Gambrell

South Korean President Yun Suk-Yul, on a trip to the United Arab Emirates,

arrived at the Al Watan Palace in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. He was received by the Emirati leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who took office in May after serving as the de facto ruler of the country for years.

Yun's visit comes as South Korea is striking multibillion-dollar trade deals and stationing special forces to defend the UAE, an arrangement that drew criticism under his Liberal predecessor. However, now it seems that the Conservative leader wants to double down on these military ties even at a time when tensions with neighboring Iran have already seen Tehran seize a South Korean oil tanker in 2021.

While energy-hungry South Korea relies on the UAE for less than 10 % of its crude oil supplies, Seoul has concluded a series of deals that go beyond oil

Ahead of Yun's visit, officials described the visit as seeking to strengthen relations between the two countries.

"This visit will strengthen strategic cooperation with the brotherly UAE in the four core cooperative sectors of nuclear energy, energy, investment, and Defense,"said Kim Sung-Han, director of national security of the Yun government.

Yonhap on Saturday quoted an anonymous presidential official who also said that an arms deal was planned.

"The atmosphere is very conducive to security or military cooperation between South Korea and the UAE regarding the arms industry," the official said.

But South Korea's largest project is still the Barakah nuclear power plant, which is Seoul's first attempt to build nuclear reactors abroad. The USD 20 billion facilities, which will eventually contain four reactors, is located in the UAE's western deserts near the Saudi border and will one day account for almost a quarter of the UAE's energy needs.

It is also central to the UAE's plans to become carbon-free by 2050, a pledge that is taking on particular importance as it prepares to host the UN climate negotiations at the 28th World Cup starting in November in Dubai.