South Korea and Saudi Arabia need oil but eye clean energy

RIYADH – A delegation led by South Korea’s president visiting Saudi Arabia inked a preliminary woody Tuesday to research a task to make a perchance cleaner signifier of energy. The improvement comes adjacent arsenic Saudi Arabia remains South Korea’s apical supplier of crude oil.

The sojourn was the 2nd halt connected a Mideast circuit by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife, who were greeted connected the tarmac by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and an grant defender marching band. All were masked and Moon did not shingle hands with the prince, successful enactment with coronavirus societal distancing practices.

The preliminary woody centers connected processing a task successful Saudi Arabia to nutrient greenish hydrogen for export, according to the state-owned Saudi Press Agency. Supporters of greenish hydrogen tout it arsenic a little c intensive mode to powerfulness proscription and curb immoderate of the environmentally destructive impacts of burning gasoline and diesel fuel.

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The memorandum of knowing was signed by starring executives and officials from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, South Korea's POSCO and Samsung's C&T operation and engineering company.

South Korea has been pushing ahead with plans to chopped its greenhouse state emissions and aims to beryllium c neutral by 2050. Saudi Arabia, 1 of the world's biggest lipid and state producers, past twelvemonth announced its pledge to scope net-zero by 2060.

Still, some nations profoundly beryllium connected lipid and gas. Relations betwixt South Korea and Saudi Arabia day to the aboriginal 1960s, and person been underpinned since by South Korea’s reliance connected vigor imports to powerfulness its manufacturing industries and refineries.

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“South Korea has a spot successful utilizing hydrogen, has world-leading technologies for fuel-cell batteries utilized successful hydrogen cars, and besides has plans to physique the world’s largest liquified hydrogen plant. If Saudi Arabia’s quality to nutrient greenish and bluish hydrogen combines with South Korea’s quality to utilize hydrogen, the 2 countries could jointly pb the planetary hydrogen economy,” Moon said astatine a concern forum pursuing his talks with Prince Mohammed.

Around a 3rd of South Korea’s lipid imports are from Saudi Arabia, making the kingdom Seoul’s apical supplier of crude.

More than 90% of South Korea’s imports from Saudi Arabia are concentrated successful oil, according to a 2018 study published by the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. South Korean exports to the kingdom are besides not varied, consisting mostly of automobiles and operation equipment. Nearly 90% of South Korea’s investments successful Saudi Arabia are successful the operation sector.

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Although the Saudi system remains heavy reliant connected lipid and state exports for revenue, the crown prince’s Vision 2030 program calls for creating caller industries and attracting overseas concern successful a scope of non-oil sectors, including atomic technology, construction, artificial intelligence, acquisition and healthcare.

Moon's bureau said helium and Prince Mohammed discussed imaginable deals connected defence and precocious weapons systems to Riyadh, arsenic good arsenic South Korea’s atomic fusion reactors. Moon's authorities has antecedently expressed involvement successful South Korea taking portion successful a large atomic powerfulness works task successful Saudi Arabia.

South Koreans helped neighboring United Arab Emirates physique its $20 cardinal Barakah atomic powerfulness plant, the archetypal of its benignant connected the Arabian Peninsula.

Moon told Prince Mohammed that South Korea would beryllium an “optimal” spouse for Saudi Arabia's atomic powerfulness works task and was besides consenting to research exertion transfers successful weapons systems truthful that they could yet beryllium manufactured successful Saudi Arabia, Seoul's statesmanlike bureau said.

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Moon visited the United Arab Emirates connected Monday, wherever helium reportedly reached a preliminary $3.5 cardinal woody to merchantability Seoul’s surface-to-air missiles to Abu Dhabi and pledged deeper practice with the Arab country. The South Korean person is scheduled to sojourn Egypt next.

State-run Saudi media said among those who attended Moon’s talks with the Saudi crown prince astatine Al-Yamama Palace successful Riyadh were a fig of ministers, including the crown prince’s younger brother, Prince Khalid bin Salman, who serves arsenic lawman defence minister.

The crown prince has mostly taken implicit day-to-day regularisation of Saudi Arabia from his father, King Salman. It was unclear whether Moon would besides conscionable the king, who has lone made constricted nationalist appearances since the pandemic began.

This is the archetypal sojourn to Saudi Arabia by a South Korean president since 2015. The Saudi crown prince visited South Korea successful mid-2019.

Prince Mohammed faced planetary fallout successful the contiguous aftermath of the 2018 sidesplitting of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents successful the kingdom’s consulate successful Turkey. Though the crown prince inactive faces scrutiny abroad, Western and Asian billionaires, members of U.S. Congress, celebrities, satellite leaders and others person been wooed backmost to Saudi Arabia.

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Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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