President returns after 8-day Middle East tour

President Moon Jae-in, left, and first lady Kim Jung-sook arrive at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Saturday, after a three-nation, eight-day trip to the Middle East. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Moon Jae-in returned home Saturday from a whirlwind eight-day Middle East tour which took him to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Egypt in a push for cooperation in areas including clean energy, defense and economy.

Moon held a summit with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo Thursday and discussed strengthening their partnership in economy and trade, space, sustainable development and support for expanding transportation and water resource infrastructure in Egypt. They also agreed to expand cooperation on climate change, as Egypt is the host of this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP27, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

The two sides agreed to conduct a joint study into trade and economic partnership aiming eventually for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) which, if realized, would mark Korea's first FTA with an African country.

They also signed a memorandum of understanding that calls for Korea to provide a soft loan worth $1 billion to Egypt over the next five years.

The two leaders agreed to make joint efforts for the conclusion of negotiations for a deal to sell Korea's K-9 self-propelled howitzers to the African nation. Australia last month signed a 1.9 trillion won ($1.6 billion) contract during Moon's visit to the country, and if Egypt finalizes a deal, it would be the first African nation to purchase the K-9 Thunder howitzers.

During a joint press conference with the Egyptian president after their summit talks, Moon said, "We agreed that the howitzer will greatly contribute to strengthening the military power of Egyptian forces, while the related technical cooperation and local production in Egypt will become a major example of successful, mutually beneficial cooperation at the same time."

Moon was the first Korean president to visit Egypt in 16 years.

He later attended a business roundtable for future green industries, where he stressed the importance of eco-friendly cooperation, including in areas such as electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy and future industries.

Moon noted at the forum that the Suez Canal "is a global logistics hub and has extensive FTA networks across Africa, the Middle East and Europe."

He said he looks forward to Korean companies' active participation in eco-friendly infrastructure projects in Egypt, such as the construction of a new administrative capital, the installation of hydrogen-powered trams, the conversion of Suez Canal tugboats to liquefied natural gas-powered ones and building a desalination plant. He also encouraged "synergy" between the two countries in their efforts toward turning a low-carbon transition into an opportunity to create new jobs.

Moon kicked off his three-country trip in Dubai last Saturday and met with UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and also visited the Dubai Expo Sunday.

During the visit, the UAE signed a preliminary deal worth some $3.5 billion to purchase Korea's mid-range surface-to-air missiles (M-SAM) Block-2 defense system, also called Cheongung II.

There was a moment of tension while Moon was in the country, when the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen conducted a drone strike that killed three people in Abu Dhabi, originally a stop for the Korean leader. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the de facto ruler of the UAE, canceled a meeting with Moon, but the two held talks by phone Monday.

In Saudi Arabia, Moon held talks with the country's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday and agreed to work together in areas related to the hydrogen economy.

Moon and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary General Nayef bin Falah Al-Hajraf on Wednesday agreed to resume free trade negotiations this year between Korea and the six Gulf Arab nations.

The GCC is comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE and account for 68 percent of Korea's crude oil imports.

Moon and first lady Kim Jung-sook arrived at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Saturday morning.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]