The UAE Space Agency, led by H.E. Dr. Eng. Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi, Director General welcomed Mi-Ock Mun, Advisor to the President for Science and Technology from the Office of the President of the Republic of South Korea at Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi where they discussed cooperation opportunities between the two parties.
Discussions with Mi-Oak, who led the official delegation from South Korea, covered the various means of enhancing cooperation in the space sector, particularly in terms of knowledge and expertise exchange, and developing joint space projects through mutual partnerships in space science and technology fields.
Joint cooperation between South Korea and the UAE dates back to 2006, when a group of Emirati youth visited South Korea on a scholarship, where they had the opportunity to cohesively work on building satellites. The two countries have already partnered on developing DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2. Furthermore, Dong-Sung Park and Jo Jin Li are members of the UAE Space Agency advisory committee.
H.E Dr. Eng. Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi, Director General said, “South Korea and the UAE have had a steady relationship for many years, with the space sector in particular. Over the years we have also developed strong ties in other fields such as nuclear energy, education and technology sectors. Our nation’s commitment lies in developing strong relations to mutually launch new projects through the exchange of knowledge and expertise in global space science.”
He added: “South Korea has commendable capacities in technology and advanced sciences. These capacities have helped national space projects and benefited Emirati engineers to a great extent.”
The UAE Space Agency also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning in 2017. This MoU was signed during the Global Space Congress held in Abu Dhabi, and further enhanced cooperation and knowledge exchange in space exploration sector, satellite sensing, navigation, as well as relevant rules and regulations