As relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia deteriorated, a ‘fire’ sparked in the relations between Korea and Saudi Arabia. As the U.S. intensified its pressure on Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia, conscious of the Korea-U.S. relationship, began to “distancing” from South Korea.
According to the government and diplomats on the 17th, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Korea, scheduled for next month, has been canceled. Crown Prince bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, was preparing for a top-level exchange with a visit to Korea from August to November in mind, but it is known that he has recently notified the Korean government of the cancellation of the visit.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Saudi Arabia. With the visit of Crown Prince bin Salman as an opportunity, the Yoon Seok-yeol government planned to engage in economic diplomacy by addressing the world’s largest construction project of 650 trillion won in Saudi Arabia, ‘Neom City’ and a local nuclear power plant order project as major agenda items. Until last week, the presidential office had been preparing for a meeting with President Yoon, making the visit of Crown Prince bin Salman to Korea a standard fact. The biggest reason for the cancellation of Crown Prince bin Salman’s visit to Korea is the US-Saudi conflict. Conflict with the United States began as Saudi Arabia sided with Russia over oil production cuts. Earlier this month, OPEC+ (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the Association of Major Oil Producers) agreed to cut production by 2 million barrels per day despite outright opposition from the US.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN on the 16th (local time) that “President Joe Biden’s options include a change in his approach to security assistance to Saudi Arabia.” “I have no plans to meet with the Saudi Crown Prince during the G20 summit,” he said. There are growing calls in Congress to end all cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including arms sales. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (Democrat) has urged the US to stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia following the OPEC+ decision to cut production.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, speaking at the National Advisory Council, said, “Oil is an important factor in the growth of the global economy. said.
A nuclear power agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia is also essential when it comes to winning an order for a nuclear power plant that Saudi Arabia has issued a bid notice and invited South Korea to. The US strictly stipulates that the uranium enrichment ratio should be less than 20%, but Saudi Arabia wants a number that exceeds this. However, this number problem is superficial, and South Korea has become a so-called ‘stuck’ situation amid worsening US-Saudi relations. The situation in South Korea, which is working more closely than ever with the United States due to a series of recent North Korean provocations, may have burdened Crown Prince bin Salman.
An official from the ruling party said, “It seems that the project was canceled due to the Saudi situation, not ours, but I don’t think it is because there is a problem with our relationship.”
Another background is the issue of hosting the 2030 World Expo. South Korea’s Busan is competing with Saudi Riyadh in a two-way battle to host the 2030 World Expo. This situation may have put a burden on both countries. A government official said, “The Expo issue was rather a situation in which the two countries might use it as leverage while discussing various huge cooperative projects.”
However, even if Crown Prince bin Salman’s visit to South Korea fails, it is expected that the two leaders will be able to meet at the G20 summit next month. If the leaders of the two countries attend the G20 Summit to be held in Bali, Indonesia for two days from November 15th, an opportunity for bilateral consultation will arise.
[박인혜 기자 / 박윤균 기자 / 박민기 기자]
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