The 16th Korea-Middle East Cooperation Forum, co-hosted by Korea-Arab Society (KAS), the Jeju Peace Institute(JPI) and the Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research(ECSSR) with the support of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the UAE was held in Seoul, Korea on 13 November. This is a track 1.5 forum participated by the private and public sectors and first launched in 2003, in Korea and the Middle East on a rotational basis.\

H.E. Mr. Cho Sei-young, first Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Korea, presented that Korea and the Middle East need to broaden the scope of their cooperation that used to be confined to certain realms such as construction and energy to include comprehensive economic areas and to expand cooperation base to security and culture and also develop the bilateral relations to a partnership to prepare together for the 4th Industrial Revolution era.

This year’s forum under the theme “Mapping Paths to New Frontier of Korea-Middle East Cooperation” featured three sessions. The forum brought together about 220 people including incumbents, former high-level officials, politicians, business people, media, scholars and students. The participants exchanged knowledge and opinions on the development of the relationship between Korea and the Middle East to establish networks.

Those included, H.E. Mr. Cho Sei-Young, first Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Korea, H.E. Mr. Yoon Young-kwan, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Korea, H.e. Mr. Mohammed Bechari, Secretary General of the World Muslim Communities Council, Dr. Kim Jina, Research Fellow of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses,  Mr. Ahmed Al Mulla of the UAE University, Mr. Obaid Al Zaabi, Manager of  Communication and Public Relation at the ECSSR, Prof. Kim Eunbee of Korea National Defense University, Prof. Yousuf Al Hinai of Oman’s Sultan Qaboos University, Mr. Charles Pyo, Member of Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and CEO of Chain Partners Inc., Prof. Nam Hyung Doo, Member of Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and professor of Yonsei Law School and Prof. Lee Yeonho from Yonsei University.

It served as an opportunity for all participants to discuss imperative issues in depth ways for Korea and the Middle East to develop mutual understanding and to build networks among them.