Seoul targets $35 billion in UAE AI, defence deals
South Korea joins Stargate AI Campus Project in Abu Dhabi
#UAE #bilaterals - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan signed seven MoUs during a bilateral summit in Abu Dhabi on 18th November, with Seoul’s presidential office projecting combined economic benefits of $35 billion from defence industry and artificial intelligence sectors. The agreements cover strategic AI collaboration, space cooperation, next-generation nuclear technologies, administration of the 2024 Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, biohealth, intellectual property and new nuclear power technology. South Korea will also participate in the Stargate UAE project to build a massive AI data campus in Abu Dhabi with one-gigawatt capacity.
SO WHAT? - The summit marks a strategic pivot in Korea-UAE relations beyond traditional sectors of energy, construction and nuclear power towards advanced technologies including AI, semiconductors and defence innovation. The South Korean government has ramped up diplomatic and bilateral initiatives over the past five years to push AI and related technologies to the forefront of relations with the Gulf, in particular Saudi Arabia. After a series of high value deals won by Korean companies in the Kingdom, the UAE trade and investment negotiations signal a renewed focus on the Emirates. The $15 billion opportunity in defence export contracts, combined with AI infrastructure collaboration, align with the UAE’s strategy of diversifying partnerships beyond Western allies whilst South Korea continues to expand its footholds in Middle Eastern markets.
Here are some key points about Korea-UAE deals:
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan held a 57-minute bilateral summit at Qasr Al Watan presidential palace in Abu Dhabi on November 18th, signing seven MoUs. The two countries aim to expand bilateral cooperation beyond four existing core areas of investment, defence industry, nuclear power and energy into future-oriented sectors including artificial intelligence, healthcare and culture.
Seoul’s presidential office projects combined economic benefits of $35 billion from defence industry and artificial intelligence sectors, including defence export project contracts worth more than $15 billion through joint development, local production, plus export of weapons systems to third countries.
The framework agreement on strategic AI collaboration enables South Korea to participate in the Stargate UAE project to construct an AI data campus with 5-gigawatt capacity in Abu Dhabi, with initial investment by global companies estimated to exceed 30 trillion won or $26.5 billion, making it the first Stargate implementation outside the United States.
Under the AI cooperation framework, Korea and the UAE will collaborate on AI investment and infrastructure, expanding supply chains and power generation, whilst working towards joint research and development including exchange of experts, and exploring hyperscale AI data centre co-establishment based on energy-mix strategies and global AI Smart Port projects utilising digital twin technology.
The two countries agreed to cooperate on developing new nuclear technologies including small modular reactors and integration of AI into nuclear power plants, building on the Barakah nuclear power plant project where a Korean consortium completed construction of the fourth reactor unit in 2024 after winning a $20 billion contract in 2009.
South Korea and the UAE signed MoUs covering strategic AI collaboration framework, space cooperation including continuation of programmes spanning nearly two decades, next-generation nuclear technologies, implementation of the 2024 Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, biohealth, intellectual property rights and nuclear power technology integration.
President Lee emphasised combining Korean and UAE capabilities for joint research and production whilst expanding into third-country markets, noting Korea achieved industrialisation and democratisation through human resources alone whilst praising the UAE’s future-focused strategy of reducing oil dependence through bold investment in renewable energy, nuclear power, advanced technology and artificial intelligence.
ZOOM OUT - The Korea-UAE relationship has evolved significantly since diplomatic relations were established in 1980, with bilateral ties upgraded to a special strategic partnership in 2018. President Lee’s state visit marks only the second by a Korean president to the UAE, following former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s trip in 2023. The two nations have demonstrated sustained collaboration across multiple sectors, from the deployment of Korea’s Akh Unit special forces contingent to train UAE counterparts beginning in 2011, to space cooperation including the Etihad-SAT Radar Satellite developed with Korea’s Satrec Initiative in 2025 and earlier milestones such as DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]