vows

March 20 (Asia Today) — South Korea’s arms procurement agency has pledged a sweeping overhaul of its systems and export strategy as it pushes toward the government’s goal of becoming one of the world’s top four defense exporters. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration, or DAPA, is South Korea’s defense procurement agency, and it is now led by Administrator Lee Yong-cheol.

Speaking at a briefing with defense reporters in Seoul on Wednesday, Lee said the agency would press ahead with faster decision-making, stronger export execution and greater technological self-reliance. He said the current moment amounted to a last chance to reform an organization long criticized for inefficiency and delay.

Lee said DAPA’s export drive must go beyond ceremonial overseas trips and focus instead on securing contracts and building practical business outcomes. But he also acknowledged that export growth alone is not enough if the underlying system remains slow and structurally weak.

One of the clearest examples, he said, was the long-delayed KDDX next-generation destroyer program. The project drifted for more than two years as authorities failed to make a policy choice between direct contracting and open bidding, exposing what Lee described as a deeper decision-making problem rather than a regulatory one.

Lee said South Korea also remains behind in drone warfare capabilities. While drones have become central to modern combat, the country’s military systems are still focused largely on reconnaissance, with limited strike and interception capacity and continued dependence on imported core components. He said DAPA plans to rely more heavily on rapid acquisition and early deployment of prototypes to speed fielding.

Defense semiconductors remain another major vulnerability. South Korea depends heavily on foreign technology for key components used in radars, guided weapons and communications systems, a weakness Lee described as an urgent national task. He said the answer lies in building stronger links between the civilian semiconductor sector and military demand while sustaining long-term investment.

Lee also pointed to Canada’s submarine procurement program as a major test of South Korea’s export competitiveness. He said the outlook was not unfavorable but remained uncertain, describing the bid as a national effort involving diplomacy, industry and military capabilities. Yonhap reported Friday that Lee sees the contest as essentially even, with South Korea competing against Germany for a contract covering 12 submarines.

DAPA said it will also seek structural reforms to prevent repeated delays, including penalties for intentional slowdowns and changes to procurement procedures that can trap projects in repeated failed bidding cycles. Lee has instructed staff to move from planning-based administration to execution-based management, with clear deadlines and accountability.

The agency’s challenge now is whether it can turn reform rhetoric into durable institutional change. For South Korea to become a top-tier defense exporter, industry officials say, speed, structure, technology and political resolve will all need to advance together.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260320010006140

March 18 (UPI) — Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power said Wednesday that new CEO Kim Hoe-chun has officially taken office to lead the state-run company over the next three years.

The chief executive said that he would establish a dual-track strategy of focusing on large-scale nuclear reactors and small modular reactors, or SMRs, at the same time to gain a stronger foothold in the global market.

SMRs refer to next-generation nuclear power plants, which are smaller but considered safer than traditional massive reactors. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, or KHNP, has worked on its own models, known as “innovative SMRs.”

“We will successfully carry out already secured overseas projects while pursuing tailored bidding strategies to enter new markets,” Kim said during an inauguration ceremony at the firm’s head office in Gyeongju, around 180 miles southeast of Seoul.

“We will develop the KHNP-style integrated management model as an export product and take a leading position in the international nuclear power market through innovative SMR technologies,” he said.

In June 2025, KHNP signed a contract to build two nuclear reactors in the Dukovany region of the Czech Republic. The agreement is estimated to be worth about $18 billion.

The company also has been competing with global players to win nuclear contracts in other countries.

Before taking the helm at KHNP, Kim spent decades at Korea Electric Power Corp., where he held a series of key positions after joining it in 1985. Between 2021 and 2024, he served as CEO of Korea South-East Power, an affiliate of KEPCO.

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta called out the federal government for largely vacating its role as antitrust regulator, saying it’s now up to California and other states to look out for consumers’ interests.

Bonta, the state’s top law enforcement officer, spoke Thursday at a Capitol Forum conference in Beverly Hills on antitrust issues and the future of Hollywood. His appearance came just days after the U.S. Department of Justice settled its case against Live Nation and Ticketmaster a week into a high-stakes trial, leaving state attorneys general to try to continue to fight that battle on their own.

The Justice Department’s about-face revealed a major fracture in antitrust enforcement. State attorneys general — particularly in Democratic-controlled states — say their role is becoming increasingly important to challenge alleged anti-competitive behavior.

President Trump has “abdicated the federal administration’s responsibilities to hold big corporations accountable to the law and protect a competitive marketplace,” Bonta said.

Bonta’s appearance comes as another major Hollywood merger appears to be sailing through its federal review with Trump’s tacit approval: Paramount Skydance’s proposed $110-billion deal for Warner Bros. Discovery.

The merger, announced late last month, has rattled Hollywood unions and some antitrust experts. It would combine legendary film studios, robust television production units and two prominent news organizations, CBS News and CNN, as well as dozens of cable channels.

“Paramount and Warner Bros. haven’t cleared regulatory scrutiny,” Bonta said. “My office has an open investigation into [the deal] and we intend to be vigorous in our review.”

California could bring its own lawsuit to block Paramount’s takeover, or join with other state attorney generals to launch legal proceedings to try thwart the deal or extract concessions — even if the Justice Department ultimately clears David Ellison’s deal.

Bonta outlined various concerns, including a continued contraction of Hollywood’s labor market, the consolidation of streaming services — Paramount+, HBO Max, Pluto and Discovery+ — and potentially higher prices and lower wages.

“There’s no industry as iconically California as the entertainment industry,” Bonta said. “It’s baked into California’s DNA.”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta vowed to drill into Paramount Skydance’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.

(Paul Kuroda/For The Times)

Paramount filed for Justice Department approval in December .

The maneuver started the regulatory review clock. And last month a key deadline for the Justice Department to raise concerns about Paramount’s proposed acquisition of Warner passed without comment from Washington.

Paramount has said it could finalize its deal by the end of September.

The architect of Paramount’s strategy, Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim, delivered his own keynote address, stressing the Ellison-family’s acquisition of Warner Bros. would not reduce competition and instead would be “a huge win for the creative community.”

“Paramount’s transaction with Warners is an opportunity to expand output, to grow the number of movies, shows and other content we are offering to the consumer,” Delrahim said, adding that will result in “more job opportunities,” including in Southern California, which is reeling from a production flight to other states and countries.

Delrahim conceded that Paramount was driven to buy Warner Bros. — it prevailed after Netflix bowed out — because Paramount is not big enough to compete in an industry dominated by technology giants.

He criticized the proposed Netflix deal, saying he doubted it would have passed regulatory muster due to Netflix’s strength in the streaming market.

Paramount still needs to win the support of Warner shareholders, and also gain regulatory approvals from the Justice Department, state attorney generals and overseas governments.

“This deal is a big win for Los Angeles, for California and for all communities that embrace filmmaking,” Delrahim said.

Tech mogul Larry Ellison has personally guaranteed the $45.7-billion in equity needed for the transaction . The company would have to take on more than $60-billion in debt — raising concerns among Hollywood workers about large-scale cost-cuts and layoffs.

“What is Paramount doing is …paying $110 billion to take out a rival,” said attorney Ethan E. Litwin, a former lawyer for TV networks, who also spoke at the conference. “When you take out a major rival in a highly concentrated industry … you are taking out competitors for projects. “

Bonta declined to say whether he would try to stop the Paramount-Warner merger.

Progressive State Leaders Committee, an affiliate of the Democratic Attorneys General Association, in December hired Rohit Chopra, a former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and former commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission, as a senior advisor. He will help coordinate efforts as the group, including Bonta, wages antirust enforcement battles.

“The federal government is just not enforcing the law,” Chopra said during Thursday’s conference. “Our states are really the last line of defense.”

WASHINGTON — Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed retaliation Thursday against the United States and Israel and signaled that Tehran will continue to choke off the world’s most critical oil route, as the war strained global energy markets and raised new security concerns in the United States.

In his first public remarks since U.S.–Israeli strikes killed his father, former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba Khamenei swore revenge. The new leader, notably, did not appear in person for the televised statement. Instead, his written words were read aloud on Iranian state media.

“We will never retreat and vow to avenge the blood of our martyrs,” he said. “Our revenge will be never ending, not only for the late supreme leader, but also for the blood of all of our martyrs. … Those who killed our children will pay the price.”

The new leader expressed condolences to families who lost children in a strike on a girls school in Minab that killed more than 165 people, many of them children. He also warned that the war could expand, declaring that the continuation of the conflict “depends on the interests of the parties.”

The Associated Press, citing two sources, reported that outdated intelligence likely led to the United States carrying out the deadly missile strike on the elementary school. U.S. Central Command relied on target coordinates for the strike using outdated data provided by the Defense Intelligence Agency, according to a person familiar with the preliminary finding.

Khamenei indicated that Tehran would maintain its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a key choke point through which 20% of the world’s oil supply is shipped. He also said he believes in friendship with his country’s neighbors, but that attacks on U.S. military installations in the region will continue. He described maintaining pressure on the passage as a necessary part of Iran’s war strategy.

His remarks came as attacks continued to disrupt shipping and energy infrastructure across the Persian Gulf. The war sent oil up 10% Thursday as hostilities in Iran drag on.

Reports from the region said Iranian forces have intensified strikes on vessels attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, leaving hundreds of ships stranded at its entrances and rattling global oil markets.

Two oil tankers were struck by explosives in Iraqi waters near the port of Basra. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for the attacks, which killed at least one crew member and set both vessels ablaze, according to the Associated Press. A third unnamed vessel was reported to have been struck by an “unknown projectile” near Dubai and Jebel Ali, causing a small fire, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported.

The latest incidents come after drone strikes targeted fuel storage facilities across the Gulf, including at energy sites in Bahrain and at the port of Salalah in Oman, an important hub for tankers seeking to bypass the Strait.

“They will pay the price. We will destroy their facilities,” Khamenei said. “It is necessary to continue our defensive activity, including continuing to close the Strait of Hormuz.”

WASHINGTON — Signs of division emerged in Iran’s leadership Saturday as U.S. and Israeli strikes continued battering targets throughout the country, with Tehran sending mixed signals on whether it would keep attacking Washington’s Arab allies entering the war’s second week.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian began the day offering an apology “on behalf of Iran to the neighboring countries affected,” promising to halt the attacks that have affected nearly every nation in the Middle East. But strikes continued within hours, hitting Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, and Pezeshkian quickly issued a statement walking back his remarks.

President Trump vowed on social media to “hit Iran very hard” on Saturday, shortly before flying to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for the dignified transfer of six service members killed in the war.

Speaking at a summit of Latin American leaders in Miami before his trip to Delaware, the president said the fallen service members were heroes “coming home in a different manner than they thought they’d be coming home.” He said it was “a very sad situation,” and he pledged to keep American war deaths “to a minimum.”

And Israel launched its own wave of fresh attacks against Iran while taking incoming fire from Hezbollah, Iran’s allied force in Lebanon, that set off sirens in Tel Aviv. Reports of a fire at a major oil refinery outside Tehran sparked fears the conflict was only escalating, marking the first attack on Iran’s energy infrastructure, if confirmed.

The burst of activity over the weekend underscored that Trump’s unexpected war with Iran, launched alongside Israel just a week ago, is continuing at full force with no sign of slowing.

Missile and drone strikes by Iran against Arab nations, targeting U.S. military assets in the region as well as civilian targets, including hotels and airports, have been an effort by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to pressure regional governments to in turn press Trump to end the U.S. air campaign. The strikes have jolted markets worldwide and sent the price of oil soaring.

President Trump salutes Saturday as soldiers carry the coffin of Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa. Coady and five others were killed in a drone strike in Kuwait.

(Roberto Schmidt / Getty Images)

While the attacks have decreased substantially over the course of the week, with U.S. Central Command recording a 90% decrease in ballistic missile launches and an 83% drop in drone attacks as of Friday, Iranian strikes are still penetrating regional air defenses. One drone hit the world’s busiest airport, in Dubai, on Saturday, dashing hopes that flights could resume from the regional hub.

Hours after Pezeshkian’s apology, Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement vowing to continue strikes on territories that host U.S. offensive forces. Iran’s Defense Ministry said that its strategic stockpile of munitions was sufficient to sustain a protracted campaign. And a Revolutionary Guard spokesperson issued a statement addressing Trump, calling him “the corrupted island man,” referring to his former friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender who allegedly trafficked girls to his private island.

“The ground and the map of the war is in our hands,” the Revolutionary Guard official said. “This will continue.”

In his videotaped remarks, Pezeshkian also rejected Trump’s call for Tehran’s “unconditional surrender.” Trump later said he would be satisfied reaching a point at which Iran is no longer capable of fighting back.

“The idea of Iran surrendering unconditionally is a dream they will take to their graves,” Pezeshkian said.

A member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, a council of 88 clerics responsible for naming the country’s supreme leader, was quoted in local state media vowing to select a new ayatollah within the next day, more than a week after U.S. and Israeli forces assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening salvo of the war.

Trump has said he expects a say in that decision, preemptively rejecting the late supreme leader’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who is seen as the most likely successor.

Mojtaba Khamenei is seen as even more ideological than his father, with deep ties throughout Iran’s security apparatus — and with a potential vendetta against Trump, on the heels of U.S. forces killing much of his family.

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council who formerly served as the late Khamenei’s top advisor, said in his first remarks since the ayatollah’s killing that his assassination was unprecedented. “The price for this is not small,” Larijani said.

“They shouldn’t think we’ll let America quickly sweep this under the rug and say, ‘We hit, now let’s move on,’” Larijani continued. “Things will only resolve when they understand they no longer have the right to violate Iran, and when they compensate the Iranian people for their losses.”

More that 1,200 people have been killed in Iran since the war began, according to Iranian officials.

“He killed and martyred our leader,” Larijani added. “We’re not letting it go.”

BRITNEY Spears’ manager has slammed her DUI arrest, branding it inexcusable.

Britney, 44, was busted by California Highway Patrol on Wednesday night, with a representative now speaking out, vowing that the singer will “make a long overdue change”.

Britney’s manager Cade Hudson broke his silence hours after the arrest

In a statement to The U.S. Sun, he said: “This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable.

“Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law and hopefully this can be the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life.

“Hopefully, she can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time.

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“Her boys are going to be spending time with her.

“Her loved ones are going to come up with an overdue needed plan to set her up for success for well being.”

TMZ have since reported Britney spent some time at a hospital early Thursday morning.

She spent time here because California Highway Patrol officers “transported her there to draw her blood”.

The outlet claims she did not sustain any injuries, and the hospital visit was “purely to determine her blood alcohol content”.

The singer was booked into jail at 3am, records indicate. She was later released at 6am.

On the booking documents, the star’s occupation is listed as “celebrity.”

TMZ report that Britney was “very emotional while being processed” at the Sherriff’s Office.

Sources told the outlet she was “crying a lot”.

After her arrest, Britney’s car was taken to a Thousand Oaks towing yard.

She is expected to return to court on the morning of May 4.

Her arrest comes as The California Post exclusively revealed that cops have been called to Britney’s home 14 times in the past two years.

Records obtained by The Post show 14 calls to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department made since Jan 1, 2024.

The most recent call logged was for a “trespassing in progress”, which around midnight on October 23, 2025.

The month prior was for a a wellbeing check, which was reportedly listed as canceled.

The outlet also report several calls made to the cops in August 2025, with one listed as trespassing in progress.

Another wellbeing check was carried out in July 2025, which was the first call to cops since March of that year, which was for a “silent alarm”.

December 2024 saw cops called for an “audible alarm” and in November of that year there were two wellbeing checks logged.

In October 2024, the cops went to Britney’s home for a “suspicious subject” after a “subject disturbing” two months prior.

In recent hours, she also deleted her very active Instagram account.

This isn’t the singer’s first run-in with officials.

Just last year, cops were called about her “dangerous behavior” on a plane.

Britney reportedly caused a scene when she started drinking while flying home on a private jet with her security from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in May 2025, TMZ reported.

Flight attendants were reportedly shocked when she pulled out a cigarette and lit it mid-flight.

Though she put out the cigarette when asked. cops still confronted her when she landed at Los Angeles International Airport.

She was reportedly issued a warning, and then allowed to go free.

Britney was placed under a conservatorship in 2008. Her now-estranged father Jamie was appointed as her conservator, and handled all her personal and financial affairs.

After years of objection and a public legal battle, the #FreeBritney movement exploded onto social media.

Thirteen years after it began, a judge officially terminated her conservatorship on November 12, 2021.

March 3 (Asia Today) — Han Byung-do, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said Monday that his party will maintain an emergency legislative posture in March and convene plenary sessions every Thursday to advance key bills.

Speaking at a party strategy meeting, Han said the March session of the National Assembly begins Wednesday and that the party will focus on livelihood- and reform-related legislation to support President Lee Jae-myung’s policy agenda.

“We will operate all standing committees and hold plenary sessions every Thursday to ensure there is no shortage of bills ready for passage,” he said.

Han also addressed delays in passing an administrative integration bill, which has stalled amid disagreements with the opposition People Power Party.

He accused the conservative party of blocking the bill’s submission to the plenary session while claiming that the Democratic Party opposes integration of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province. Han argued that integration efforts involving Daegu and North Gyeongsang as well as Daejeon and South Chungcheong Province should move forward together, calling administrative consolidation a “century-long national plan.”

Han criticized the People Power Party for staging a public march to the presidential office in protest of three judicial reform laws passed by the Democratic Party majority, including measures creating a crime of judicial distortion, allowing constitutional complaints against court rulings and expanding the number of Supreme Court justices.

“The march is not about judicial justice but about appealing to far-right street forces,” Han said. “Public sentiment lies not on the asphalt but in people’s everyday lives.”

He added that the party would work with the government to respond to what he described as a “global complex crisis” stemming from escalating tensions in the Middle East, including developments involving Iran.

“Rising oil prices and broader instability could affect the real economy, financial markets and security,” Han said. “We will closely monitor the situation with the government and seek to prevent excessive anxiety from spreading.”

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260303010000481

Israel’s prime minister says strikes on Tehran will increase in the coming days, with US support, to do what Benjamin Netanyahu says he’s ‘hoped to do for 40 years’. Israel and the US killed Iran’s Supreme Leader on Saturday in a renewed war on Iran.

United States President Donald Trump has pledged to continue the “righteous mission” against Iran, until “all objectives are achieved”, adding there will likely be more US troop deaths in the process.

Speaking in a video posted to his Truth Social account on Sunday, Trump again framed the war against Iran as a response to an existential threat to the US, saying that “an Iranian regime armed with long-range missiles and nuclear weapons would be a dire threat to every American”.

Trump and his top officials had repeatedly made similar statements in the run-up to Saturday’s attacks, which killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several high-ranking members of the country’s leadership.

However, they have to date presented no evidence to support that Iran was developing a long-range missile capable of hitting the US or was anywhere close to developing a nuclear weapon.

Tehran has long denied seeking such a weapon, with experts assessing that if it did seek nuclear weapons, the development would still be several years off. The US launched its attacks alongside Israel in the middle of ongoing US-Iran talks on its nuclear programme.

Trump also referenced the three US military personnel confirmed killed on Sunday amid Iran’s regional retaliation.

“As one nation, we grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives,” Trump said.

“And sadly, there will likely be more before it ends,” he said. “That’s the way it is – likely be more, but we’ll do everything possible where that won’t be the case.”

He added: “But America will avenge their deaths, and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against, basically, civilisation”.

No mention of diplomacy

The speech marked a stark contrast to several interviews Trump had given throughout the day, in which he appeared to float diplomatic off-ramps.

“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” Trump told the Atlantic magazine, referring to what the publication described as Iran’s “new leadership”.

“They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long,” he said.

A White House official confirmed to Al Jazeera that Trump was willing to engage with Iran’s new leaders.

Earlier on Sunday, Iran announced a three-member interim leadership council to run the government in the wake of Khamenei’s killing. It includes: President Masoud Pezeshkian; the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei; and a member of the Guardian Council, Ayatollah Alireza Arafi.

Trump acknowledged that some of the negotiators involved in the talks with the US had since been killed.

Some analysts have argued that Iran’s new leadership will likely be wary of engaging with the Trump administration, given its track record. The US also launched attacks alongside Israel during US-Iran negotiations in June last year.

The new leadership could instead pursue a protracted conflict that could be politically damaging for Trump, some experts have said.

“Most of those people are gone,” Trump told The Atlantic. “Some of the people we were dealing with are gone, because that was a big – that was a big hit.”

Attacks continue

In his speech on Sunday, Trump did not reference any diplomatic overtures, instead calling for regime change in Iran.

He again offered amnesty to Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members, the Iranian military and police who “lay down” their arms. If they do not, they will face “certain death”, he said.

He also again called on “Iranian patriots who yearn for freedom to seize this moment to be brave, be bold, be heroic, and take back your country”.

He appeared to reference his threats in January to strike Iran in response to the government’s crackdown on protesters.

“I made a promise to you, and I fulfilled that promise,” Trump said. “The rest will be up to you. We’ll be there to help”.

Trump spoke as fighting continued across the region.

The US command that oversees the Middle East (CENTCOM) announced the killing of the three members of the US military earlier on Sunday, but did not provide further details. It said five others were “seriously wounded” in the operation.

The US media has reported that those killed in Iranian strikes were based in Kuwait. Iran has also launched a barrage of attacks against Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, and Oman.

Meanwhile, at least 201 people have been killed in Iran, with 747 wounded, while at least nine have been killed and 121 wounded in Israel.

At least one person has been killed in Kuwait, three have been killed in the UAE, and two have been killed in Iraq since the escalation began.

Iran’s IRGC said earlier on Sunday that it had targeted the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier with four ballistic missiles, but a US official told Al Jazeera that no damage was caused.

Speaking in a separate Fox News interview on Sunday, Trump said that 48 “leaders” had been killed in Iran, although a full list of those killed has not been released. In a post on Truth Social, the US president said the US had “destroyed and sunk 9 Iranian Naval Ships, some of them relatively large and important”.

“In a different attack, we largely destroyed their Naval Headquarters,” he said.

In a post on X, CENTCOM said the IRGC “no longer has a headquarters”.

Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi, meanwhile, said Iran’s military command had been interrupted, with units acting in an “independent and somewhat isolated” way. He said they were operating “based on general instructions given to them in advance”.

Still, Araghchi told ABC News, “We see no limit for ourselves to defend our people, to protect our people.”

THIS is the moment Katie Price’s marriage to Lee Andrews was finally legalised – after weeks of rumours.

The new couple got hitched again in a secret ceremony just five days ago.

Katie and Lee could be seen holding hands and gazing into each other’s eyes as they repeated their wedding vows.

Towards the end of the ceremony, instead of sealing the marriage with a kiss Lee leaned and embraced the mum-of-five.

It seems it was a very casual second ceremony with the pair opting to wear jeans, jumpers and trainers.

Katie and Lee faced have faced concerns about the legitimacy of their wedding last month, but The Sun can now reveal Katie and her fourth husband’s real marriage certificate.

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Katie Price’s marriage made legal FIVE days ago in 2nd ceremony despite fears

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The 47-year-old officially said “I do” again inside Abu Dhabi’s judicial department despite her family and friends voicing their fears over Lee.

Self-proclaimed businessman Lee, 41, and former glamour model Katie signed on the dotted line to formally register their marriage on February 17.

Katie’s whirlwind marriage to the Dubai-based Lee marks the fourth time she has walked down the aisle after her marriages to Peter Andre, Alex Reid and Kieran Hayler.

In the exclusive snaps obtained by The Sun, Katie and Lee appear to be the only ones present for the ceremony – no one attended their first wedding either.

It’s believed that podcaster Katie wanted the official marriage documents ahead of her return to the UK for a shock third ceremony.

Reality TV star Katie married Lee in a quickie ceremony last month after shocking the world with her unexpected engagement that came just weeks after she split from her long-term boyfriend JJ Slater.

Katie been spending time in the UAE on honeymoon following a brief return to the UK since their wedding – despite warnings from her pals.

And it’s been far from smooth sailing for the ex-glamour model.

After meeting up with close pal Kerry Katona and her boyfriend Paolo Margaglione in Dubai, the day descended into chaos following a row.

It led to Lee punching Paolo in a shock bust-up.

Katie was then seen slurring in a video hours after claiming she’s having Lee’s baby .

It triggered a reaction from her sister Sophie Price who shared an emotional post about “pain” and “coming to your senses” amid Katie’s out of the blue marriage.

The video dived into the complexities of family relationships, following claims their once close relationship is strained.

After the dramatic Dubai trip, which saw Kerry and Paolo leave early, Katie and Kerry’s friendship is also said to be on thin ice.

Katie’s pals say they are deeply worried for the mother of five who launched a verbal attack on Lee’s ex-fiancee Alana Percival in a damning Instagram statement.

In the aftermath, Katie’s partnership with domestic abuse charity Woman’s Trust was terminated – despite those close to her insisting she did not write it.

Another of Lee’s exes, Crystal Janke, claimed he took £123,000 from her as an investment, but had failed to give her any money back.

He said he denied all the claims made by the women.