Recently, South Korea’s military contingent in the United Arab Emirates has performed its first combined exercise of the year with its host nation’s troops, amid struggles to boost military ties to counter-terrorism in the region. The Akh unit recently delivered the exercise in the Middle Eastern country to boost joint capacities in ground-based and maritime anti-terrorism operations, according to the officials.
The two sides held diverse drills, including those on hostage rescue operations, sniper shooting aboard helicopters, and close-quarters combat under ship hijacking and illicit ship-to-ship arms transfer scenarios. The unit stated it aims to stage various other training events and is preparing to conduct joint drills with UAE troops this year on directing fire support.
The latest exercise came as Seoul aims to intensify bilateral military cooperation, with Defense Minister Shin Won-sik visiting the UAE earlier this month for talks with his UAE counterpart, Mohamed bin Mubarak Al Mazrouei. During the talks, the two sides arranged to strengthen defence and arms industry cooperation based on their nations’ relations which were elevated to a “special strategic partnership” in 2018.
The two defence chiefs also examined the achievements of their defence cooperation over the past 15 years and exchanged ideas on future-oriented cooperation going forward. Shin remarked that his journey to the UAE will open up new opportunities for further bilateral cooperation in the arms industry.
In 2010, South Korea sent 150 special forces troops to the UAE to prepare Emirati soldiers in counter-terrorism and counterinsurgency.
The deployment was part of wide-ranging and deepening economic, diplomatic and military ties between Abu Dhabi and Seoul, accentuated by the US$20 billion (Dh73.4bn) sale of four nuclear energy reactors to the UAE last year. The announcement by the defence ministry in Seoul came after South Korea’s cabinet agreed on the deployment, which is expected easily to win the support of the National Assembly, South Korea’s legislature. The legislation enacted by the Assembly simply authorises the sending of soldiers without stating their exact purpose.
South Korea also deployed 3,000 troops in northern Iraq, mainly on structure and medical projects, before withdrawing them two years ago, and 232 South Korean soldiers stayed in Afghanistan to protect South Korea’s provincial reconstruction team there.
The UAE has also deployed particular forces troops in Afghanistan. In another sign of South Korea’s commitment to supporting securing the region for trade, Seoul authorised a one-year extension for the 366 members of a naval unit, that contains a destroyer based in Aden, for patrolling pirate-infested waters off the coast of Somalia. The destroyer and its staff were to have left at the end of this year but instead could evolve a semi-permanent force in partnership with vessels from many other countries in the Indian Ocean.
South Korean analysts have assumed that the deployment of the force in Aden may explain why terrorists blew up an oil pipeline managed by the Korean National Oil Corporation in Yemen. Damage was minimal, but more such incidents are expected. “So many Korean companies and employees are in the Middle East,” the defence spokesman stated. “We want to help to increase peacemaking and stability in the region.”
