1. Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan had a luncheon meeting with his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin
Zayed Al Nahyan, who is visiting Korea as part of Crown Prince Mohammed of Abu Dhabi’s entourage, on
May 26 to discuss major pending issues between their countries.
2. With respect to the Cheonan incident, Minister Abdullah offered sympathy to the bereaved families of
the killed sailors and underscored that the UAE government, having issued a statement of support on the
Korean position, will not spare cooperation in the UN as well. Minister Yu expressed gratitude in response
and proposed that the two countries work closely together in this regard.
3. The two Ministers concurred that the two countries should exert joint efforts toward tangible progress
in bilateral cooperation in nuclear energy; human-resources development; new and renewable energy;
information and communications technology; semiconductors; and shipbuilding.
4. With Korea and the UAE marking their 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year, Minister Yu
explained the plan to hold a “Korean Culture Night” in Abu Dhabi and Dubai on June 16-17, and asked
for the UAE’s support. Minister Abdullah also spoke of the UAE plan to host events in Seoul on June 15
in commemoration of the forging of Korea-UAE diplomatic ties, and offered to cooperate to the extent
possible with the events the Korean side will hold in his country.
5. The visit to Korea by Minister Abdullah, the first of its kind since June 2009, provided an opportunity for
in-depth discussions on ways to further strengthen Korea-UAE strategic partnership forged in December
2009, when Korea won nuclear orders from the country.
Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT
* unofficial translation