ARAMCO head visits Korea

Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan. [Courtesy of ARAMCO]

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (ARAMCO) Chairman and Governor of the South Arabian Public Investment Fund Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan visited South Korea on Wednesday and is expected to meet with key Korean political and business figures, including Chung Ki-sun, chief executive officer of shipbuilding company HD Hyundai Co., during his short visit.

Al-Rumayyan will stay in Korea for two days and three nights before leaving on Friday. He is known to be a close confidant of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and keeper of the nation’s sovereign wealth fund.

The sovereign wealth fund he controls is a state-owned fund funded by the Saudi Arabian royal family and amounts to more than $600 billion.

Al-Rumayyan is visiting Korea for the first time in a year and three months after attending President Yoon Suk Yeol’s inauguration in May 2022 as part of the Saudi Arabian delegation. He was scheduled to attend an ARAMCO board meeting in Seoul in March but had to cancel his trip due to other commitments.

He will meet with Chung at HD Hyundai’s headquarters in Jung District, Seoul, to explore ways for cooperation. Chung has been leading efforts to deepen the relationship between Saudi Arabia and HD Hyundai to create business opportunities.

Al-Rumayyan will also meet with Korean senior government officials to discuss bilateral cooperation on Thursday, according to sources.

HD Hyundai has been expanding its cooperation with Saudi Arabia by establishing a joint shipyard in 2017 and a joint venture for engines in 2020.

In 2019, ARAMCO invested 1.3 trillion won ($973.8 million) in Hyundai Oilbank Co. to become the second-largest shareholder.

Chung also met with Mohammed bin Salman during the latter’s visit to Korea in November 2022. During the visit, HD Hyundai Construction Equipment Co. won an order to provide a total of 50 construction equipment units, including 12 for 40-ton excavators and five high-capacity wheel loader buckets, to the construction site of “The Line” city in the NEOM region of Saudi Arabia and completed deliveries in mid-August 2023.

Al-Rumayyan will also meet with Anwar A. Al-Hejazi, CEO of S-Oil Corp., to discuss business matters. ARAMCO is S-Oil’s largest shareholder and Al-Rumayyan also serves as ARAMCO’s board chairman.