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C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 000002 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/K, ISN/NESS, EEB/CBA AND NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/04/2020 
TAGS: ECON ENRG KNNP PGOV EINV ETRD AE KS
SUBJECT: ROK FM YU ON ROK'S COMPREHENSIVE DEAL WITH UAE 
 
Classified By: Ambassador D. Kathleen Stephens.  Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
DUPLICATE COPY OF SEOUL MRN 2020. TAGS AND ADDITIONAL 
ADDRESSEES ADDED. 
 
¶1.  (C) ROK Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan hosted a 
one-on-one breakfast with Ambassador Stephens on December 30, 
and opened with a long description of the ROK-UAE nuclear 
plant deal.  Other subjects covered in the breakfast will be 
reported septel. 
 
¶2.  (C) ROK Foreign Minister Yu Myung Hwan explained that as 
part of the USD 40 billion nuclear power plant contract 
awarded to Korea earlier this week, the ROK and the UAE have 
also agreed to cooperate in economic and military areas.  The 
economic cooperation will include a wide range of areas such 
as renewable energy and education.  FM Yu said the military 
cooperation agreement is confidential, and does not need to 
be ratified by the National Assembly.  It will, however, 
allow the ROK to provide military-related training to the 
UAE, mostly in Korea itself, and by the use of retired ROK 
military officers in the UAE.  While this part of the ROK-UAE 
is not now public, Yu said over time ROK activities in this 
arena could help to get the Korean public accustomed to the 
notion of greater global engagement by the ROK, including 
militarily. 
¶3.  (C) Foreign Minister Yu asserted that the UAE,s decision 
to award the USD 40 billion nuclear plant contract to the ROK 
was actually sealed during his trip to the country in 
November; however, the UAE held out for a visit by President 
Lee Myung Bak before making the official announcement.  Yu 
explained that the French bid was much higher than (nearly 
double) Korea, and moreover that France "played dirty" by 
casting doubt as to Korea,s quality of work and ability to 
deliver.  Yu said the UAE was eager for military cooperation 
because of its continued "psychology" of threat; although 
UAE,s relations with Iran are currently relatively good. 
¶4.  (C) As Yu described it, the military collaborative 
agreement (which followed last month,s trip to the UAE by 
Defense Minister Kim Tae-Young) is significant, and will 
include defense industry technology exchanges, cooperation on 
military training and support, and exchanges of high-ranking 
military officials.  Yu noted that the UAE already has 
abundant arms and equipment, such as F-16s, that are "more 
and better than the ROK,s," but they need training.  As long 
as the ROK sends small numbers of retired ROK officers to the 
UAE, or brings UAE officers to the ROK for training, there 
will be no need for involvement by the National Assembly, 
which will allow the exchanges to remain confidential and 
low-key, he explained. 
¶5.  COMMENT:  The contract award has been major news in South 
Korea, and the Lee Myung-bak Administration clearly views it 
as a major accomplishment both in further securing the ROK,s 
critical need for a continued reliable source of oil and gas, 
and as a huge step in his administration,s goal of making 
"green growth" (read nuclear power) an engine of future ROK 
commercial success.  Already there are expectations that more 
contracts in the Middle East will follow.  As Seoul deepens 
its ties to the Persian Gulf region, we will want to deepen 
our own dialogue with the ROKs on the region and encourage 
them to be constructive players. END COMMENT. 
STEPHENS