Military cooperation between Riyadh and South Korea.
A Korean official announced that Riyadh and Seoul are cooperating on missiles, following reports in the Western media that Saudi Arabia was running out of missile stockpiles and asking Riyadh for help from the Gulf states.
A Korean official announced Wednesday evening that Riyadh and Seoul are cooperating militarily.
The Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat quoted a senior South Korean official as saying that comprehensive cooperation was under way between Saudi Arabia and South Korea, including on military issues.
The unnamed Korean official later told the Saudi newspaper that cooperation between the two countries could include military equipment and missiles.
He did not want to be named, adding that the talks between Saudi Arabia and South Korea include a number of agreements and memoranda of understanding that emphasize the strategic relationship between the two countries.
The report comes after South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a visit to the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday.
During the meeting, the cooperation between Saudi Arabia and South Korea to implement a project to build nuclear power plants and a joint project with the South Korean Atomic Energy Research Center in Daeguon on the design and engineering of a nuclear reactor in Saudi Arabia was reviewed.
Saudi Arabia enters military cooperation with South Korea after the British newspaper The Financial Times recently quoted sources as saying that Saudi Arabia had bought some missiles for Patriot systems from some Gulf countries. Request has helped.
The British newspaper said that the reason for the Saudi request was “increased attacks by Yemeni forces against Saudi Arabia.”
The report also quoted a US official as saying that “Saudi Arabia’s missile arsenal may be depleted in the next few months” and that “the acquisition of missiles for the Patriot system from other countries must be approved by the US government.”
The newspaper further quoted an informed source as saying that the missile reserves of the Persian Gulf countries are not large and it is not clear that these countries will be able to help Riyadh in this regard.
Although there is no mention of the Gulf states in the reports, the UAE has turned to companies based in the occupied territories to buy the system after the recent Sanaa operation against Abu Dhabi.
Al-Jazeera news website reported this morning (Thursday), quoting the Hebrew-language newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, that the head of the Israeli air defense company Sky Lock had announced that the Emirati people had asked for immediate help from them.