S. Korea's defense minister attends arms expo in UAE, holds talks with counterparts

South Korea's defense minister is in the UAE for a big defense-related conference.The trip comes as Seoul is looking to boost its arms sales to the region.Park Ji-won has more. This year's IDEX, or International Defense Exhibition and Conference opened in Abu Dhabi on Sunday... with some 15-hundred defense firms from around 70 countries taking part.Held every two years,.. the exhibition also brings together some one-hundred-thousand visitors and observers.Around 30 South Korean defense firms,... including Hanwha Defense, Korea Aerospace Industries,.. and LIG Nex1,... have joined this year's event.South Korea's Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo is also in the gulf nation to support the South Korean defense firms' efforts to build networks with the United Arab Emirates, as well as its neighbors in the region."When it comes to the development of weapons systems, no matter how good they are,... they cannot be exported unless there is cooperation among countries. That's why the South Korean government is fully backing our firms' efforts to export arms to the region." Jeong was one of over a dozen of defense chiefs who attended the exhibition's opening ceremony,... along with his counterparts from Egypt, Greece, Czech Republic, and the Philippines.On the sidelines of the event,... Jeong has been holding bilateral talks with defense ministers from other countries.He sat down with his UAE counterpart, Mohammed Ahmed Al-Bowardi,... about strengthening their bilateral defense cooperation. They discussed ways to strengthen cooperation by improving exchanges in terms of military personnel, training and cyber security.They also agreed to work hand-in-hand on defense R&D.Minister Jeong also held bilateral talks with his counterpart from Oman,.. Sayyid Badr bin Saud ( ) on Sunday.They agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding in the near future to establish a foothold of defense cooperation between South Korea and Oman.Park Ji-won, Arirang News.