Relationship dossier
South Korea
United Arab Emirates
Relationship assessment
A close strategic partnership built around nuclear energy, defense, and economic cooperation
South Korea toward United Arab Emirates
+70South Korea has supported the UAE’s civilian nuclear program through the South Korean-led consortium that built the Barakah nuclear power plant. South Korean military personnel have also served in the UAE in a training and defense-cooperation role, and the two governments have expanded their partnership through strategic agreements.
United Arab Emirates toward South Korea
+70The UAE selected a South Korean-led consortium to build the Barakah nuclear power plant and has pursued sustained strategic and defense cooperation with South Korea. The governments elevated ties to a special strategic partnership and subsequently to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Overall relationship
+70The relationship has a durable institutional and practical foundation, including major South Korean involvement in the UAE’s nuclear-energy program, military training cooperation, and successive upgrades to the bilateral partnership. These sustained areas of cooperation support a close overall relationship.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
South Korea and the United Arab Emirates have developed a close strategic partnership spanning nuclear energy, defense, and broader economic cooperation. South Korean companies built the UAE’s Barakah nuclear power plant, and South Korean military personnel have participated in training cooperation in the UAE. The two governments elevated their relationship to a special strategic partnership and later a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Key developments
The UAE awarded a South Korean-led consortium the contract to build the Barakah nuclear power plant.
South Korean military personnel began a training and defense-cooperation mission in the UAE.
The two governments elevated bilateral ties to a special strategic partnership.
The two governments elevated bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Major uncertainties
- The current scope and implementation of the comprehensive strategic partnership are unclear.
- The extent of ongoing defense-industrial cooperation beyond major announced agreements is unclear.