Former presidential Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok will visit the United Arab Emirates(UAE) on Tuesday as a special envoy of President Moon Jae-in. 

The Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that Im, who was named Moon’s special adviser on diplomatic issues, will lead a delegation to the UAE for a three-day stay.  

The delegation is scheduled to meet with senior UAE government officials and discuss ways to boost bilateral cooperation in various areas, including politics, diplomacy, economy and national defense.  

South Korea and the UAE upgraded their ties to special strategic partners via Moon’s UAE visit in March 2018. Since then, they’ve expanded areas of cooperation to energy and semiconductors and beyond, also in defense and the construction of nuclear power plants.  

Im’s visit comes as both South Korea and the UAE are marking this year to be the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. The UAE is also set to launch the operation of the first of four nuclear reactors built by South Korea in the Middle Eastern country.