S. Korea, UAE hold combined high-tech military training

South Korea and the United Arab Emirates were staging combined high-tech military drills, Seoul's Army said Wednesday, amid efforts to bolster bilateral military cooperation.

The exercise is underway at the Korea Combat Training Center, a facility employing cutting-edge technologies for realistic ground drills, in Inje, 165 kilometers east of Seoul, from Aug. 7-18, according to the armed service.

The drills mobilized some 2,500 troops to the facility, including a platoon of the UAE's armed forces and a unit from the 22nd Infantry Division, as well as over 200 pieces of military equipment, such as tanks, helicopters and unmanned aircraft, it said.

It marked the first time for the UAE to participate in the exercise at the facility.

The latest drills are divided into two three-day parts of separate defense and attack operations against a specialized counterforce unit and place a focus on verifying the participants' combat capabilities, the Army said.

Maj. Gen. Saeed Rashid Al Shehhi, commander of the UAE Land Forces, visited the training facility to encourage troops with Gen. Park Jeong-hwan, the Army's chief of staff, it added.

It is to run through Friday, in connection with the allies' Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, slated to kick off next Monday.

South Korea and the UAE have recently been seeking to boost bilateral ties, with the two countries signing a memorandum of understanding on strategic defense industry cooperation in January when President Yoon Suk Yeol visited Abu Dhabi for a summit. (Yonhap)