Korea's Presidential Security Service trains UAE presidential guards

South Korea’s Presidential Security Service has trained presidential guards from the United Arab Emirates in Seoul, underscoring the two countries’ expanding security cooperation, the agency said Wednesday.

The four-week program for 10 members of the UAE Presidential Guard Command was held from March 30 to April 24 at the PSS’ Security Safety Training Institute in Gangseo-gu, western Seoul. The UAE Presidential Guard is an elite special operations unit within the UAE Armed Forces.

The program was tailored to the needs of the UAE side while incorporating South Korea’s advanced protective-security capabilities, the PSS said in a press statement.

Participants received instruction in protection theory and basic skills during the first two weeks, followed by advanced protection training and emergency response drills in the final two weeks.

Since 2010, the PSS has conducted 14 such training programs for the UAE Presidential Guard Command. PSS officers have also been dispatched to the UAE as instructors, according to the PSS.

“The UAE is a key friendly nation that has established a special strategic partnership with our country, and I hope this training will serve as an opportunity to further strengthen security cooperation between our two countries,” PSS chief Hwang In-kwon said.

Hwang said the agency would continue working to build trust between countries by sharing Korea’s world-class presidential security expertise with the UAE.

An unnamed official from the UAE Presidential Guard Command expressed gratitude to the PSS for providing “an outstanding training program through systematic planning and high-level management,” according to the PSS.

“Building on the mutual cooperation and exchange of experience we have cultivated over the years, we hope cooperation between our two presidential security agencies will continue to broaden and deepen in the years ahead,” the official said.

Since 2006, the PSS has carried out 55 commissioned training programs for overseas protective-security agencies from countries including Uzbekistan, Cambodia, Qatar, Kuwait, Vietnam, Indonesia, Jordan, the UAE, Russia and Mongolia.