WNAM MONITORING: Korea’s arms procurement agency chief has visited Saudi Arabia and Romania for talks on expanding defense industry cooperation, his office said Friday, amid Seoul’s push to clinch more arms export deals.
Seok Jong-gun, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) minister, first left for Saudi Arabia on Sunday after Korean defense company LIG Nex1 won a $3.2 billion contract to supply the Mid-range Surface-to-Air Missile Block-II system to Riyadh last November.
During the three-day visit, Seok held talks with officials from the Saudi Ministry of National Guard and discussed ways for Seoul’s participation in its large-scale project to strengthen ground forces, according to DAPA.
In February, the Saudi ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with Korean defense company Hanwha Aerospace for cooperation in the project.
He also attended a workshop on Riyadh’s efforts to acquire key weapons systems, and the participants agreed to hold working-level talks on ways for the Saudi military to utilize Korean ground, maritime and aerospace weapons systems, DAPA said.
Seok also visited Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Military Industries and General Authority for Defense Development and agreed for the agencies to push to sign a memorandum of understanding for cooperation with Seoul’s Agency for Defense Development and Defense Agency for Technology and Quality.
Last October, President Yoon Suk Yeol met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a state visit to Riyadh, where they agreed to deepen the strategic partnership between their countries.
On Tuesday, Seok began a five-day trip to Romania to discuss possible exports of Korean weapons systems, including K9 self-propelled howitzers and K2 main battle tanks, according to DAPA.
Seok visited the Black Sea Defense, Aerospace and Security International Exhibition in Bucharest to hold talks with Defense Minister Angel Tilvar, Economy Minister Stefan-Radu Oprea and other senior government officials, as well as lawmakers to discuss arms industry cooperation.
Last month, Yoon and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis agreed to boost defense cooperation during their summit in Seoul. Romania placed an order for LIG Nex1’s Chiron surface-to-air missiles last November.
