Abu Dhabi and Seoul get down to business on AI and finance - UAE

Abu Dhabi’s investment drive in South Korea yielded a series of commercial agreements spanning artificial intelligence, gaming and digital finance after a delegation of 88 public- and private-sector entities visited Seoul, an Abu Dhabi Media Office statement said. The deals — brokered by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (Adio), Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Presight and other partners — build on prior diplomatic and commercial momentum, including a USD 65 billion pipeline agreed after a February delegation and the UAE–Korea CEPA that came into force in May.

"AI and gaming are getting their own agreements," the statement said, underlining the delegation’s sectoral focus as it moves from memorandums of understanding toward concrete investments and partnerships.

The finance-focused agreements include three headline initiatives. Adio signed a partnership with Korean insurer Hanwha Life to explore digital finance, capital-market connectivity and tokenized assets; Hanwha Life previously teamed up with Abu Dhabi-based Shorooq in 2024. ADGM joined Hanwha Asset Management and Hana Financial Group in talks to examine stablecoins and cross-border payments, targeting remittances between Abu Dhabi and Korea and broader digital-asset infrastructure. Adio also struck a deal with Korean venture firm Hashed to link Korean companies and financial institutions with investment opportunities in Abu Dhabi.

On the investor side, Further Asset Management confirmed an investment in Korean blockchain firm Four Pillars to help develop digital-asset infrastructure for institutional investors, although the investment sum was not disclosed.

• Adio — partnership with Hanwha Life to explore tokenized assets and capital-market connectivity
• ADGM, Hanwha Asset Management and Hana Financial Group — stablecoins and cross-border payments, including remittances
• Adio and Hashed — connecting Korean companies to Abu Dhabi investment opportunities
• Further Asset Management — investment in Four Pillars to advance institutional digital-asset infrastructure

AI and gaming received parallel attention. Presight signed an MoU with Gyeonggido Business & Science Accelerator to support startup investment flow and cross-border expansion, and signed separately with AI infrastructure firm Dtonic to explore smart-city applications and AI-driven data infrastructure. On gaming, Adio signed with Kakao Games to explore using Abu Dhabi as a base for regional and international expansion covering publishing, localization and live operations.

The delegation included representatives from Adio, Hub71 and Emirates Global Aluminium and followed earlier visits focused on AI infrastructure, data centres and semiconductors. The visits and agreements come against a backdrop of growing UAE–Korea economic ties: the countries enacted a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in May, which reduced trade barriers in key sectors, and earlier talks produced a USD 65 billion pipeline of projects, notably a USD 35 billion defence memorandum of understanding.

Outlook: the mix of MoUs, venture partnerships and direct investments signals a transition from headline pledges to operational cooperation. Finance deals will test whether tokenisation and stablecoin infrastructure can be implemented at scale between Abu Dhabi and Seoul, while investments in AI, gaming and smart-city projects will hinge on follow-through from both public institutions and private investors. If the current momentum continues, Abu Dhabi’s push into Korea could translate the broader USD 65 billion pipeline into sectoral projects delivering tangible capital flows and cross-border activity in the year ahead.