18 September 2026
Two Korean financial groups signed agreements with Abu Dhabi institutions on 16 September 2026 to build a payments and digital finance corridor between Korea and the emirate. Hanwha Life Insurance signed with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) to create an ecosystem for digital finance and to forge deeper links between the Korean and Emirati capital markets. Separately, Hanwha Investment & Securities partnered with the operator of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and with Hana Financial Group to build infrastructure for cross-border payments and remittances between Korea and Abu Dhabi, and to help develop an interoperable digital-asset ecosystem. Both were announced at the first Abu Dhabi Investment Forum held in Seoul. No financial terms, budgets or launch dates were disclosed.
What was signed on 16 September 2026
The announcement covers two separate tracks with different counterparties, and it is worth keeping them apart:
- Hanwha Life Insurance and ADIO. ADIO is the government entity responsible for attracting and facilitating investment in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The stated purpose of the partnership is to create an ecosystem for digital finance and to deepen the connection between the Korean and Emirati capital markets.
- Hanwha Investment & Securities, the ADGM operator and Hana Financial Group. This is the operational half. The three parties agreed to build infrastructure for cross-border payments and remittances between Korea and Abu Dhabi, and to help develop an interoperable digital-asset ecosystem.
Neither party published a product description, a technical standard, a pilot date or a volume target. At this stage the documents set a direction of work, not a service that a company can use.
The agreements build on a track opened in December 2025, when Hanwha financial affiliates took part in Abu Dhabi Finance Week and identified four areas for future cooperation between Korea and the UAE: joint investment in real-world assets, supply-chain finance, cross-border payment infrastructure and digital-asset platforms. The Seoul agreements pick up two of those four.
ADIF Seoul: the forum behind the deals
The venue was the Abu Dhabi Investment Forum Seoul 2026, held on Wednesday 16 September in southern Seoul. It was the first edition of the forum in the Korean capital. ADIF is a recurring investment platform run by ADIO, and earlier editions have been staged in Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, New York, London, Mumbai and Milan. In Seoul, ADIO led the event in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) and ADGM.
Hanwha was not the only Korean company to sign. According to Korea’s Science Ministry, the forum produced multiple agreements spanning digital assets, autonomous driving and gaming, and the Korean signatories included Kakao Mobility, the taxi-hailing platform operator of Kakao. Second Vice Science Minister Ryu Jae-Myung attended and said Korea was willing to expand investment and industrial collaboration with the UAE in digital and advanced sectors.
The Abu Dhabi side was senior: H.E. Rashed Abdulkarim Al Blooshi, Chief Executive Officer of the ADGM Registration Authority, H.E. Jamal Abdulla Al Suwaidi, Ambassador of the UAE in Korea, and H.E. Shamis Ali Al Dhaheri, Second Vice Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Chamber, all appear in the official photograph from the forum.
Fatima Al Hammadi, Head of the FIDA (Fintech, Insurance, Digital and Alternative assets) Cluster at ADIO, said Korea is a key partner market for Abu Dhabi and that the partnership with Hanwha would open the way to joint investments. Kwon Hyek-woong, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hanwha Life, said the company would seek to turn its cooperation with Abu Dhabi into concrete business opportunities. Im Dong-jun, Chief Executive Officer of Hanwha Asset Management, called Abu Dhabi a partner with the potential to serve as a springboard for global financial and digital-asset companies.
The trade numbers behind the agreements
The forum was one item in a wider visit. The Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry led a delegation to the Republic of Korea from 15 to 17 September 2026, made up of senior representatives from more than 88 public and private entities, among them ADDED, ADGM, ADIO, Abu Dhabi Customs, Hub71, KEZAD, Emirates Global Aluminium, Etihad Airways, Masdar City and Core42.
The figures published by the Abu Dhabi Chamber set the scale of the relationship:
- Bilateral trade between the UAE and Korea exceeded USD 19.8 billion in 2025.
- Non-oil trade rose 4.5% to USD 6.9 billion over the same year.
- The number of Korean-owned companies in Abu Dhabi grew 5.8% in 2025.
- The UAE has committed USD 30 billion to strategic sectors of the Korean economy, including nuclear energy, hydrogen, renewables, semiconductors and advanced technologies.
The legal frame is newer than most people assume. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the UAE and Korea was signed on 29 May 2024 and entered into force only on 1 May 2026. It covers approximately 91.2% of tariff lines, with duties to be eliminated progressively over a period of up to 10 years, and its 18 chapters include trade in services, investment and digital trade. The two countries have held a Special Strategic Partnership since 2018, and a UAE Korea Joint Business Council has activated sectoral working groups in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, digital content, energy and advanced manufacturing. Planning is also under way for a dedicated industrial zone in Abu Dhabi for Korean manufacturers.
Why ADGM is the counterparty
ADGM is the international financial centre and financial free zone of Abu Dhabi, based on Al Maryah Island and Al Reem Island, with its own common law framework and its own regulator, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority. It is the jurisdiction where a payments or digital-asset venture of this type would actually be licensed and supervised, which is why the operator of the centre, rather than a commercial bank alone, sits on the Abu Dhabi side of the agreement.
The centre has been growing quickly. In its first-half 2026 results, published on 8 September 2026, ADGM reported that assets under management grew 54% year on year, that active licences reached 13,974 and that the workforce on the two islands rose 34% to 49,027 professionals. We covered those numbers in detail in our note on the ADGM results for the first half of 2026. Abu Dhabi also ranked 13th worldwide and Dubai first in fintech in the latest Global Financial Centres Index.
What changes for companies, and what does not
For a business operating in the UAE, the honest reading of 16 September is that the direction is confirmed and the mechanics are not. Specifically:
- Nothing changes today in how you send or receive money. There is no new payment rail, no new corridor tariff and no new remittance product that a company can switch on. Existing bank channels and licensed payment providers remain the route.
- No rule, fee, threshold or licensing requirement has changed. Company registration, banking onboarding and compliance obligations in the UAE are unaffected by these documents.
- The signal is about where the work will be licensed. If a Korea to Abu Dhabi payments or digital-asset service does launch, ADGM and its regulator are the likely home for it, which matters when choosing a jurisdiction for a fintech or treasury entity.
- Tariffs are the part that is already live. The UAE Korea CEPA has been in force since 1 May 2026, so companies trading goods on this corridor can check their tariff lines now rather than waiting for the financial infrastructure.
- What to watch. A named pilot, a licensed entity inside ADGM, or a published standard for the digital-asset interoperability layer. Until one of those appears, plans should not be built around a specific launch date.
How Atlant Capital can help
Korean, Russian and other international groups looking at Abu Dhabi as a base face the same sequence regardless of which corridor is in the headlines. We handle the choice between a free zone such as ADGM and the mainland, the selection of activity codes, company setup in Dubai and across the UAE, the legalisation of the corporate documents of a foreign parent, and opening the corporate bank account once the licence is issued. Banking is the step that most often stalls cross-border groups, because banks examine the full ownership chain and the source of funds. Our guide to opening a bank account in the UAE sets out the documents, the review stages and the realistic timelines before you start.
Conclusion
On 16 September 2026 Hanwha Life signed with ADIO on digital finance and capital market links, while Hanwha Investment & Securities, the ADGM operator and Hana Financial Group agreed to build cross-border payments and remittance infrastructure between Korea and Abu Dhabi together with an interoperable digital-asset environment. No terms, budgets or dates were published. The context is a relationship worth more than USD 19.8 billion in trade in 2025, a CEPA in force since 1 May 2026, and a financial centre whose assets under management grew 54% in the first half of this year. For companies, the practical work remains the same: the right licence, complete documents and a bank account that is open before the first contract.
Source: Korea JoongAng Daily, Abu Dhabi Media Office.
FAQ
What did Hanwha sign with Abu Dhabi in September 2026?
On 16 September 2026 Hanwha Life Insurance signed a partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office to create a digital finance ecosystem and link the Korean and Emirati capital markets. On the same day Hanwha Investment and Securities partnered with the operator of Abu Dhabi Global Market and Hana Financial Group to build cross-border payments and remittance infrastructure between Korea and Abu Dhabi and an interoperable digital-asset ecosystem. No financial terms were disclosed.
Does this create a new way to send money between Korea and the UAE?
Not yet. The parties announced an intention to build payments and remittance infrastructure, without a product, a technical standard, a pilot date or a volume target. Companies and individuals continue to use existing banks and licensed payment providers. The agreements matter as a signal about where such a service would be licensed, which is ADGM.
What is ADGM and why does it matter here?
Abu Dhabi Global Market is the international financial centre and financial free zone of the UAE capital, located on Al Maryah Island and Al Reem Island, with a common law framework and its own regulator. In the first half of 2026 it reported 54% growth in assets under management, 13,974 active licences and a workforce of 49,027. A Korea to Abu Dhabi payments or digital-asset venture would most likely be licensed and supervised there.
Is the UAE Korea trade agreement already in force?
Yes. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the UAE and Korea was signed on 29 May 2024 and entered into force on 1 May 2026. It covers approximately 91.2% of tariff lines, with duties eliminated progressively over up to 10 years. Bilateral trade exceeded USD 19.8 billion in 2025 and non-oil trade rose 4.5% to USD 6.9 billion.
