President Lee Jae Myung met with a United Arab Emirates (UAE) official Friday and called for continued cooperation between South Korea and the Gulf state, his office said.
Lee welcomed Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority of Abu Dhabi, to Cheong Wa Dae, recalling that Seoul and Abu Dhabi agreed during his state visit to the UAE last November to begin a partnership for the next 100 years, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a written briefing.
He thanked the UAE for prioritizing crude oil supplies to South Korea in March amid the US-Israeli war with Iran and noted growing cooperation in areas such as defense, artificial intelligence, nuclear energy and culture.
"President Lee called for close communication between the two countries' point men for each other in order to produce concrete achievements that can be felt by the two countries' people, while continuing communication and cooperation based on trust between the two countries' leaders," Kang said, referring to Lee's chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik and Khaldoon.
Lee also asked the chairman to convey his best regards to UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Khaldoon conveyed the UAE president's regards to Lee, saying the UAE people consider South Korea to be a "brother nation" that has helped their country in times of need.
The two countries' cooperative relations have now expanded beyond energy and infrastructure to include diverse and future-oriented sectors, such as investment, space, health and education, he added.
The chairman's visit, which followed a previous trip in January, came amid speculation the two countries plan to hold a summit in South Korea next month. (Yonhap)
