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President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee pose for a photo with the Akh Unit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on Jan. 15. (Yonhap)

President Yoon Suk-yeol has sparked controversy by saying that the “security of a brother nation is our security,” and calling Iran the “enemy” of the United Arab Emirates.

The Democratic Party slammed Yoon’s comments as a “diplomatic disaster,” saying his statements could sound like he was calling Iran — a nation with which Korea has maintained friendly ties since Seoul and Tehran established diplomatic relations in 1962 — an enemy.

Yoon made the comments Sunday (local time) while meeting soldiers of Korea’s Akh Unit, which is deployed to the UAE.

During the meeting, Yoon said that “the security of a brother nation is our security," and that "the enemy of the UAE and the biggest threat is Iran, while our enemy is North Korea.”

In his following pep talk as well, Yoon called the UAE Korea’s “brother nation,” adding that “this ground, where we hold joint drills, operations and education is the Republic of Korea and our fatherland.”

Thus showing the world Korea’s defensive strength, the president said, doing so would “diminish the enemy’s will to launch provocations.”

Encouraging the soldiers, he said he was “proud” and “very reassured” as commander-in-chief.

Upon learning of Yoon’s comments, the Democratic Party said Yoon had once again exhibited his foot-in-mouth diplomacy during his first overseas trip of the year with his “diplomatically highly inappropriate comments.”

In a statement Monday, the Democratic Party’s committee on the matter accused the president of “making a very dangerous statement that could be interpreted as calling Iran an enemy of Korea, going beyond, as commander-in-chief, encouraging soldiers working hard overseas.”

“Does this mean we’ve gone beyond the current deployment aimed at military cooperation with the UAE and will even fight a war together?” the party asked in their statement.

The committee said it hopes Yoon remembers that “each and every statement made by the president on the diplomatic stage is directly tied to the national interest and security of our citizens,” adding that it further hopes the Yoon administration’s diplomacy ceases being “either humiliating or incompetent.”

About this, the Foreign Ministry said Yoon’s statement was made “to encourage the soldiers of the Akh Unit, who are contributing on the ground to the UAE’s peace and security.”

By Bae Ji-hyun, staff reporter

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