Minister Ahn Gyu-baek of the Ministry of National Defense will pay an official visit to Saudi Arabia from the 6th to the 10th.
The Ministry of National Defense said on the 5th that the Minister will attend the 3rd World Defense Show (WDS 2026) in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi defense industry exhibition marks its third year. Saudi Arabia hosts it every other year, and more than 700 companies from 80 countries take part, making it one of the world's largest defense exhibitions. From Korea, 40 corporations will participate.
The Minister will hold a meeting with small and midsize companies participating in the defense exhibition and encourage members of the Air Force's Black Eagles aerobatic team, which will stage an air show at a Middle East defense exhibition for the first time this year.
The Minister will then meet for talks with Saudi Minister of Defense Khalid bin Salman Al Saud and Saudi Minister of the National Guard Abdullah bin Bandar Al Saud.
Saudi Arabia is pursuing a modernization project to completely replace its military's weapons systems and build a defense industry ecosystem, and the Minister is expected to use this meeting to underscore the competitiveness of Korea's defense industry.
It has been five months since the Minister last visited Saudi Arabia in September last year.
An official at the Ministry of National Defense said, "Based on the even stronger bilateral relationship, we will pursue defense diplomacy to help Korea rise to become one of the world's top four defense powers."