TOKYO, May 14 (KUNA) -- South Korea and Saudi Arabia have discussed ways to cooperate on the modernization of Saudi armed forces, the South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced Wednesday, Yonhap News Agency reported.
DAPA Minister Seok Jong-gun visited Saudi Arabia for a two-day visit earlier this week as part of Seoul's efforts to diversify its arms exports to countries in the Middle East, the DAPA said.
During the visit, Seok held talks with Saleh bin Abdulrahman Al-Harbi, chief of staff of the National Guard, and briefed him on Seoul's efforts to strengthen arms exports as well as nurture Riyadh's own arms industry capacity, according to DAPA.
The two officials concurred that bilateral efforts to modernize Saudi Arabia's National Guard are proceeding smoothly and vowed to achieve tangible results by the end of the year, it added.
The DAPA chief said the visit, which came just four months after his trip to the country in January, helped establish circumstances for strengthening bilateral arms cooperation and developing Saudi Arabia into a Middle Eastern hub for arms industry cooperation. South Korea aims to carve out a 5 percent share of the global arms export market by 2027 to become the world's fourth-largest defense exporter. (end) mk.gta