Iraqi foreign minister hints at Korean T-50 training jet buy

Minister appeals Seoul to ‘reconsider’ travel ban on Iraq for better business ties


Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who visited Seoul last week, said his country was likely to buy Korea’s T-50 training jets and the possibility of the sale is “positive.”

His remarks came after Korea Aerospace Industries, the country’s sole aircraft maker, failed to sell its homegrown T-50 supersonic trainer jets to Israel a few days ago. The Israeli government chose the Italian-made M-346 instead.

“We’re looking for this plane to buy from you. It will be positive,” Zebari said in an interview with The Korea Herald at the Iraqi Embassy in Seoul on Saturday.

“Because we’re buying 38 F-18s from the U.S., this is the best plane fit for that job. It will fill the gap for us.”

He did not give details on how many T-50 units Iraq will buy or when it will buy. Local news reports said that Iraq is looking for 24 T-50 units worth about 600-720 billion won ($533-639 million).

Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari speaks during an interview with The Korea Herald. (Kim Yoon-mi/The Korea Herald)

Zebari, a Kurd, is the longest-serving minister in Iraq, having taken office in July 2003.

During his first visit to Seoul from Thursday to Sunday, he met President Lee Myung-bak, Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and South Korean business leaders.

Earlier on Thursday and Friday, Lee and Kim requested that Zebari help provide a stable supply of oil from Iraq, as Korea is trying to diversify oil supply channels in case it has to reduce oil imports from Iran due to sanctions on Tehran.

He said Iraq would accept Korea’s request, which fits Iraq’s needs to boost oil production to increase revenue needed for reconstruction.

“We have to sell more oil to friendly customers like Korea. It’s not linked to what Korea will suffer from Iran if there is any tension or escalation as such,” the 58-year-old said.

“We already told OPEC that we’re on our course to increase our production. So definitely, we will take any offers like Korea for emergency supplies and assistance,” he said, not giving the specific amount of oil output available to Korea.

Zebari raised concerns over Korea’s extended travel ban on Iraq which can undermine business and trade between the two countries.

South Korea is the only free country in the world that can legally ban its people from outbound travel to specific places if there is safety concern. Currently, Korea bans traveling to five countries ― Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Yemen and Syria.

Korea’s Foreign Ministry extended the travel ban on Iraq for another six months from Feb. 6, saying that bombings have frequently occurred since the withdrawal of the U.S. Armed Forces from Iraq.

“How could you develop business relations when you have restrictions on your people? It doesn’t make sense,” he said.

He said he raised the issue with the Korean government to reconsider the decision and Seoul “looked positively” on that.

Zebari forecast that there will be an increased demand for tourism from Korea to Iraq, saying members of the Korean Zaytun troops, who had served as medics and engineers in Iraqi Kurdistan from 2004 to 2008, would want to visit Iraq again.

Although many countries including Korea had “some kind of paranoia” that there will be security vacuum after the pullout of American troops late last year, it has not really happened, Zebari said.

In late March, Iraq is to host an Arab summit for the first time since the Arab Spring, which overthrew several dictators in the region.

The summit of the 22 member countries will be limited to its own members, except for four organizations ― the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the African Union, he said.

“The agenda will be extraordinary” such as what to do about the Arab Spring, how to democratize the region, fight poverty, illiteracy and what the member nations should do to make their regimes accountable, he said.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)