{"id":113405,"date":"2026-02-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T00:00:00","slug":"uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/","title":{"rendered":"UAE, South Korea sign USD 35 bn defense pact, agree to \u201crestructure\u201d investments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seoul and Abu Dhabi are dialing up their strategic partnership \u2014 this time <\/strong>with a <\/strong>USD 65 bn pipeline of joint projects<\/strong>, South Korean news agency Yonhap<\/a> reports, citing South Korean Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik.<\/p>\n

The two sides inked a USD 35 bn MoU on defense cooperation<\/strong>, which \u201cmarks a shift beyond a simple buyer-seller relationship and toward cooperation across the full defense industry cycle, from design and training to maintenance and repair,\u201d Kang said. This would span anti-air systems, air force, and naval capabilities. <\/p>\n

Beyond defense,<\/strong> previously pledged capital is also being repositioned. <\/strong>Mubadala\u2019s previously climate and energy-focused USD 30 bn pledge<\/a> is now earmarked for cooperation in other areas including nuclear energy, AI, advanced tech, and culture, with working groups tasked with turning pledges into contracts before the next summit. On nuclear, that means expanding collaboration beyond Barakah<\/a> and into other countries supply, plant maintenance, AI-enabled operations, and joint overseas expansion.<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND- <\/strong>This builds on the 2024 comprehensive economic partnership agreement<\/a> signed between the two countries, and the 19 MoUs spanning energy, defense, tech, and climate \u2014 alongside the Mubadala commitment \u2014 which eliminated tariffs on over 90% of traded goods and hardwired cooperation across nuclear, LNG shipping, hydrogen, and defense. Since then, energy financing is tightening the bond further, most recently via a USD 2 bn green loan for Adnoc<\/a> backed by South Korea\u2019s export credit agency.<\/p>\n

Why it matters:<\/strong> The UAE is widening its bench \u2014 reducing single-source reliance in defense and nuclear while positioning South Korea as a core industrial partner. And it cuts both ways: as US tech guardrails tighten, Abu Dhabi and Seoul are leaning into each other on AI and advanced manufacturing. South Korea has already signed onto the UAE\u2019s 5 GW Stargate AI data campus<\/a>, and a broader bilateral AI investment framework is in the works, UAE State Minister Saeed bin Mubarak Al Hajeri previously indicated<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story<\/strong> with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seoul and Abu Dhabi are dialing up their strategic partnership \u2014 this time with a USD 65 bn pipeline of joint projects, South Korean news agency Yonhap reports, citing South Korean Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik. The two sides inked a USD 35 bn MoU on defense cooperation, which \u201cmarks a shift beyond a simple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1554],"tags":[1400,54,7,1342,358,1334],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-113405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diplomacy","tag-defense","tag-diplomacy","tag-enterpriseam-uae","tag-investment","tag-nuclear-energy","tag-trade","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"2a9853c3-50ea-4be2-a6cf-c9987ea99df2","order":"4","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2026\/2\/1598.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"UAE, South Korea sign USD 35 bn defense pact, agree to \u201crestructure\u201d investments","related_issue":[113398],"teaser":""},"yoast_head":"\nUAE, South Korea sign USD 35 bn defense pact, agree to \u201crestructure\u201d investments - UAE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UAE, South Korea sign USD 35 bn defense pact, agree to \u201crestructure\u201d investments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seoul and Abu Dhabi are dialing up their strategic partnership \u2014 this time with a USD 65 bn pipeline of joint projects, South Korean news agency Yonhap reports, citing South Korean Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik. The two sides inked a USD 35 bn MoU on defense cooperation, which \u201cmarks a shift beyond a simple […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UAE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-27T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2026\/2\/1598.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"enterpriseam admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"enterpriseam admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"enterpriseam admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d\"},\"headline\":\"UAE, South Korea sign USD 35 bn defense pact, agree to \u201crestructure\u201d investments\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-27T00:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/\"},\"wordCount\":342,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2026\/2\/1598.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"defense\",\"DIPLOMACY\",\"EnterpriseAM UAE\",\"investment\",\"nuclear energy\",\"trade\"],\"articleSection\":[\"DIPLOMACY\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/\",\"name\":\"UAE, South Korea sign USD 35 bn defense pact, agree to \u201crestructure\u201d investments - UAE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2026\/2\/1598.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-27T00:00:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2026\/2\/1598.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2026\/2\/1598.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UAE, South Korea sign USD 35 bn defense pact, agree to \u201crestructure\u201d investments\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/\",\"name\":\"UAE\",\"description\":\"The State of the Nation\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UAE\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg\",\"caption\":\"UAE\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d\",\"name\":\"enterpriseam admin\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/enterpriseam.testing.projectsarea.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/author\/enterpriseam\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UAE, South Korea sign USD 35 bn defense pact, agree to \u201crestructure\u201d investments - UAE","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UAE, South Korea sign USD 35 bn defense pact, agree to \u201crestructure\u201d investments","og_description":"Seoul and Abu Dhabi are dialing up their strategic partnership \u2014 this time with a USD 65 bn pipeline of joint projects, South Korean news agency Yonhap reports, citing South Korean Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik. The two sides inked a USD 35 bn MoU on defense cooperation, which \u201cmarks a shift beyond a simple […]","og_url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/","og_site_name":"UAE","article_published_time":"2026-02-27T00:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2026\/2\/1598.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"enterpriseam admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"enterpriseam admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/"},"author":{"name":"enterpriseam admin","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d"},"headline":"UAE, South Korea sign USD 35 bn defense pact, agree to \u201crestructure\u201d investments","datePublished":"2026-02-27T00:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/"},"wordCount":342,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2026\/2\/1598.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","keywords":["defense","DIPLOMACY","EnterpriseAM UAE","investment","nuclear energy","trade"],"articleSection":["DIPLOMACY"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/","name":"UAE, South Korea sign USD 35 bn defense pact, agree to \u201crestructure\u201d investments - UAE","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2026\/2\/1598.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","datePublished":"2026-02-27T00:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2026\/2\/1598.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2026\/2\/1598.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/2026\/02\/27\/uae-south-korea-sign-usd-35-bn-defense-pact-agree-to-restructure-investments\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UAE, South Korea sign USD 35 bn defense pact, agree to \u201crestructure\u201d investments"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#website","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/","name":"UAE","description":"The State of the Nation","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#organization","name":"UAE","url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ent.news\/internal\/42998.svg","caption":"UAE"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/#\/schema\/person\/ca597032db7e4db868359c123cec256d","name":"enterpriseam admin","sameAs":["http:\/\/enterpriseam.testing.projectsarea.com"],"url":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/author\/enterpriseam\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2026\/2\/1598.jpg?resize=600%2C400&ssl=1","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2026\/2\/1598.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"enterpriseam admin","author_link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/author\/enterpriseam\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ent.news\/2026\/2\/1598.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113405\/revisions"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/113398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113405"},{"taxonomy":"brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/brand?post=113405"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/uae\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=113405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}