Saudi and South Korean officials held a high-level meeting in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. In this meeting, economic cooperation, regional conflict, and energy cooperation as well as nuclear and defense cooperation were discussed between the two countries. Iran, the second largest power in the Middle East, has already gone far ahead in the nuclear field, now Saudi is also joining this race.
80 officials from both countries attended the meeting. South Korea's ambassador to Saudi Arabia Choi Byung-hyuk said the seminar is a platform to discuss economic cooperation and build a common understanding of regional conflicts in the GCC, especially Gaza and the Red Sea, as well as diversify energy cooperation in the nuclear and renewable energy sectors.
For South Korea, increasing partnership with GCC countries is a big step from security point of view because Kim Jong is constantly getting closer to Russian President Putin.
South Korea and Saudi Arabia are working together on small modular reactors (SMRs), including the Smart 100 SMR. The Smart 100 reactor is a zero-carbon energy source developed by South Korea. South Korea's KAERI and Saudi Arabia's Atomic Energy Project will work together to create a joint nuclear research and development center. This partnership is expected to give new dimensions to Saudi's nuclear program.
FTA was also discussed in this seminar and its scope was expanded and agreement was reached to increase trade between GCC and South Korea. The South Korea-GCC Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed in December 2023, after which most of the tariffs between the two regions have been abolished.
During the meeting, officials from both countries also discussed regional conflicts such as the situation in Gaza and Iran's influence in the Middle East. The seminar also discussed the rapidly changing strategic posture of the world, especially the US's influence on Asia and the Gulf countries, and the possibility of increased conflicts in Asia due to Russia-North Korea relations.
Apart from this, cooperation between South Korea and Saudi Arabia in the field of AI and energy transition was discussed. South Korea has also proposed to establish an AI data center in Saudi. Officials have agreed to enhance security cooperation between South Korea and GCC states along with information sharing, joint maritime exercises and multilateral political dialogue to deal with regional and global threats.
