Ministry of Trade Industry and Resources

Minister JK (Jung-Kwan) Kim of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR) visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on June 16, 2026, as the final stop of his three-country Middle East trip to strengthen resource security and expand economic cooperation. The UAE is Korea’s only Special Strategic Partner in the Middle East and its third-largest crude oil supplier. During the March 2026 visit by the Presidential Special Envoy for Strategic Economic Cooperation, UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan pledged to give Korea top priority in crude oil supplies amid global crude supply disruptions. Minister Kim’s visit was arranged to review progress on the emergency crude deliveries agreed during the Presidential Special Envoy’s visit and to discuss how to deepen bilateral cooperation on crude oil stockpiling, nuclear power, and major plant projects.

Minister Kim first met with senior officials at ADNOC—a key player in global resource and energy supply chains—including Musabbeh Al Kaabi, ADNOC Upstream CEO. The two sides confirmed that the 24 million barrels of emergency crude oil agreed with the UAE in March are being delivered to Korea as scheduled. They also discussed cooperation to maintain stable crude supplies and agreed to continue talks on joint crude oil stockpiling, a key area of interest for the UAE.

The two sides also discussed possible cooperation on the UAE’s major infrastructure projects to build supply routes that bypass the Strait of Hormuz, including pipeline expansion and underground crude storage facilities. Minister Kim asked that Korean companies with advanced engineering, construction, and operation capabilities be considered for participation in major plant projects that can strengthen critical resource and energy supply chains.

Minister Kim then met with Sharif Salim Al Olama, Undersecretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs at the UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, and other senior officials from key UAE nuclear power institutions. The two sides reviewed ongoing Korean–UAE corporate projects to deepen cooperation across the full life cycle of Barakah plant operations, including stable nuclear fuel supply, stronger maintenance cooperation, and wider use of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation (DT) in plant operations. They also explored ways to further develop these projects. Building on the successful Barakah cooperation model, the two sides also discussed how they could jointly enter promising nuclear power markets in third countries. The talks covered how to identify candidate markets, set up cooperation frameworks, define the roles of Korean and UAE companies, and coordinate financing and investment.

The two sides also agreed to strengthen information and technical exchanges on nuclear facility protection systems following the May 17 drone attack on transmission facilities near the Barakah plant. The agreement follows a May 21 video conference between the MOTIR Minister and the UAE Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, during which they reviewed recovery work on the damaged transmission facilities and discussed steps to better protect Korean personnel working on-site.

Minister Kim said, “Even amid uncertainty in the Middle East, the UAE has been a key partner in keeping Korea’s resource and energy supply chains stable. This visit confirmed that our crude oil cooperation has moved beyond a simple trading relationship into a strategic partnership that remains effective even in times of crisis.” He added, “Building on this deep trust, we will expand nuclear cooperation across the full life cycle—from operation and maintenance to joint entry into third-country markets and facility protection—while creating more opportunities for Korean companies to take part in major plant infrastructure projects. In doing so, we will further advance the two countries’ strategic partnership.”