South Korea’s Defense Minister is scheduled to visit the United Arab Emirates next week in a bid to boost bilateral ties in the military procurement following the summit last month, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Thursday.

The Ministry of National Defense confirmed that Defense Minister Song Young-moo will visit the UAE April 15- April 18. The trip is aimed at following up on the agreement made during President Moon Jae-in’s recent visit to the UAE, where the two sides agreed to move the bilateral partnership to a “strategic level.”

“After President Moon visited the UAE, there were some talks about follow-up measures… From the Defense Ministry’s point of view, there will be discussion about military procurement and other items for cooperation,” said Defense Ministry Spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo. 

Jeon Jei-guk, minister of Defense Acquisition Program Administration, and Nam Se-kyu, director of Agency for Defense Development, are accompanying Song, fueling speculation that Song‘s visit is aimed at promoting procurement cooperation.

During his visit to the UAE in March, President Moon said he would enhance cooperation in the military equipment to the level that both countries can co-develop military equipment and export to third countries.

Moon and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan agreed to raise bilateral relations to that of special strategic partners. As part of the agreement, the two sides plan to boost cooperation in a wide range of areas from defense and diplomacy to energy and construction.

By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)