Pres. Yoon visits Akh military unit in the UAE

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visited Akh Unit, the Republic of Korea Special Warfare Unit in the United Arab Emirates, along with First Lady Kim Keon-hee on Sunday (local time) and said that UAE’s enemy is Iran and our enemy is North Korea, emphasizing the similarity between the two countries for having another country that threatens their security. Akh Unit, which consists of the Army Special Warfare Command’s special welfare and high-altitude counterterrorism teams and UDT/SEAL agents, is a military unit deployed to the UAE since 2011 upon its request. Akh means ‘brothers’ in Arabic.

President Yoon, in a desert-patterned combat uniform top, met with soldiers in the cafeteria and said that the security of the UAE, which is our brother country, is directly linked to our security. He added that the UAE, to which the soldiers are deployed upon the order of South Korea, is not a foreign country but their own country.

First Lady Kim, in the same combat uniform top, asked a soldier in a ghillie suit if he was not too hot and said that camels must like the suit. She also asked if there were many fennec foxes. “You know a lot about things,” President Yoon said to the first lady, to which she answered that she likes animals. “Without your determination to devote yourselves to the country, it would be hard to endure challenging conditions in a desert,“ said the first lady during a separate meeting with female soldiers.

Before leaving, President Yoon shook hands with UAE participants and said that Akh Unit is at the core of our brotherhood to a member of the UAE military who said the unit is a proud symbol of a relationship between South Korea and the UAE.

First Lady Kim joined a dinner at Sea Palace upon the invitation of Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi. Fatima is the wife of late President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who passed away in 2004, and the mother of the current President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.


Kyu-Jin Shin newjin@donga.com