President Yoon Suk Yeol has embarked on a tour of the Middle East comprising state visits to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The presidential plane left Seoul Air Base in Seongnam at around 12:40 p.m. Saturday.

On the first leg of his trip, Yoon will visit Riyadh and hold a summit with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday before attending various economic events including a bilateral investment forum. Dozens of memoranda of understanding in energy, high-tech, manufacturing, finance and culture sectors are expected to be signed at the forum, to be attended by around 300 business officials from both sides.

Yoon will then give a speech at King Saud University and also attend a future partnership forum to discuss cooperation in four key areas of digital, clean energy, bio technology and space exploration.

He will also attend a ceremony marking 50 years of construction cooperation between the two countries. 

On the second leg of his trip, Yoon will visit Doha from Tuesday local time, for summit talks with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and a business forum involving 200 officials from both sides. 

Yoon is expected to call for extensive cooperation in new growth sectors as the two sides mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations next year.

The president will also visit Qatar's Education City to speak with local youths before returning home.

Choi Sang-mok, senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, said the focus of Yoon's tour includes resetting cooperative relations with the Middle East, strengthening cooperation in infrastructure and boosting energy security.

Yoon is also expected to address regional security concerns amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict and unveil humanitarian aid plans to assist civilian casualties and refugees.