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0 [Korea-Africa Summit] President Yonhap mentions the Kenyan proverb, “Wisdom comes from neighbors,” and “gets the answer.”
Yun-African leaders join in chorus of “strengthening cooperation and exchanges”… Korean culture is incorporated into the meet-and-greet and luncheon.
Introducing the birthdays of the presidents of Equatorial Guinea and Togo, “I hope your birthday in Korea will be remembered as a special memory.”
(Seoul = Yonhap News) [ipn News] On the 4th, President Yoon Seok-yeol presided over the ‘Korea-Africa Summit’, the first multilateral summit with African countries and the largest multilateral meeting under the current administration.
At the summit held in Gyeonggi-do, President Yoon emphasized to the leaders and representatives of 48 African countries and representatives of four international organizations, including the African Union (AU), that Korea and the African continent should grow together by strengthening cooperation.
In his opening speech, President Yoon said, “Korea-Africa cooperation must leap to a new level through the first multilateral summit with Africa with the vision of becoming a global pivotal country.”
President El Ghazani of Mauritania, the chair of the African Union (AU), co-chaired the morning session and said, “African countries attended this meeting expressing their strong trust and gratitude to Korea. The two sides have a relationship of cooperation and support, and will continue to work together in the future.” “We need to strengthen relationships and exchanges not only in the economy but also in various other fields,” he said.
Other African leaders also poured out remarks expressing hope for increased exchanges and cooperation with Korea.
Rwandan President Kagame said, “The summit between Korea, a global pivotal country, and Africa, a global pivotal continent, should have been held earlier,” and added, “Korea should share its success experiences with Africa, and Africa has a lot to learn from Korea.” did.
In a pre-conference meeting prior to the opening ceremony, President Yoon shook hands with each of the leaders who arrived at the conference hall and asked how they were doing if they had a good rest the day before.
African leaders expressed their gratitude for President Yoon’s hospitality and responded by saying that the welcome dinner and performance held at the Shilla Hotel the day before were wonderful, according to Presidential Office Spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung.
A Korean ink-and-wash painting was displayed on the wall of the Summit Lounge, a pre-conversation venue. On another wall, a video showing Korea’s economic growth process was shown through Samsung Electronics’ transparent panel.
Spokesperson Kim said that the leaders and their entourage showed great interest in this video because it contains Korea’s development process that African countries want to learn from.
After the opening ceremony and morning session, the heads of state and representatives of each country took a commemorative photo and had a friendly luncheon.
In his luncheon address, President Yoon cited the proverb of Kenya’s Masai tribe, “Wisdom comes from neighbors like sparks,” and said, “We have been looking for ways to cooperate with Africa in various aspects, and thanks to the wisdom you gave us today, we were able to obtain many answers.” He said.
President Yoon also personally introduced that the President of Equatorial Guinea’s birthday is on the 5th and the President of Togo’s birthday is on the 6th, and congratulated them, saying, “I hope that your birthday in Korea will be cherished as a special memory.”
At the luncheon, food combining Korean and African ingredients and recipes was served.
In the afternoon session, representatives from each country continued to discuss ways for Korea and Africa to achieve mutually beneficial growth.
President Yoon also held bilateral meetings with the leaders of four countries – Kenya, Madagascar, Liberia, and Ghana – in a separate space within the conference hall in the afternoon.
First Lady Kim Kun-hee, wife of President Yoon, held a separate social event at the Blue House with the spouses of heads of state from 16 African countries who visited Korea on the occasion of the Korea-Africa Summit.
It is said that the welcome banquet for the Korea-Africa Summit held the previous day at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul harmonized Korean culture with the dynamics of the African continent and received a positive response from the attending leaders.
An official from the President’s Office said that comments from African heads of state couples included, “It is impressive that so many African leaders attended this meeting,” and “It is rare for so many leaders in Africa to gather in one place, so it is amazing.”
