South Korea’s President Park to make a state visit to Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA (HAN) May 17.2016. Public Diplomacy & Regional Security News. South Korean President Park Geun-hye is to pay a State Visit to Ethiopia and the African Union Commission later this month (May 25 to 28). This will be the first-ever visit by a Korean head of State to Ethiopia. South Korea’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, Kim Moonohwan, said “President Park decided to make a State Visit to Ethiopia, which is the second most populous country in Africa and a leader in the East African region, with the belief and the conviction that our cooperation with this country is very crucial, not only bilaterally but also multilaterally.” During her visit, President Park is expected to announce Korea’s policy towards Ethiopia and Africa through her bilateral summit and her speech at AU headquarters.

The Ambassador said that South Korea was enhancing cooperation with the AU in a wide-ranging field and it was planning to co-host the 4th Korea-Africa Forum in December 2016 in Addis Ababa with Ethiopian government. During her visit, President Park will officially launch a development project called “Korea Aid”. This is comprised of three mobile elements, namely K-Medic, K-Culture and K-Meal, with vehicles to reach out to the community, serving people in the sectors of health (especially for girls), nutrition and education, and to share Korean culture as well”. The Ambassador said that that Korea hoped through this project “we will be able to achieve the SDGs of “leave no one behind” and share Korean economic and social development experience.” In an interview with the Ethiopian Herald, the Ambassador noted that the Korean textile company ShinTS was operating a textile factory in Bole Lemi industrial complex, and another world-class Korean textile company was giving positive consideration on new investment. Besides the textile and steel industry, in which investments are under progress, he said “I expect that some of the promising areas for future Korean investment are pharmaceuticals, leather, electronics, and assembly of automobile parts.”