President Moon hosts bilateral summit with Ethiopia
August 27, 2019
By Kang Gahui and Kim Hwaya
President Moon Jae-in on Aug. 26 hosted a summit with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali at Cheong Wa Dae and discussed expanding bilateral cooperation.
"We are doing our best to achieve complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establish the peace process," President Moon said, emphasizing the importance of Ethiopian support for the peace process since the African country has diplomatic relations with North Korea.
Abiy highly evaluated President Moon's intent and the Korean government's efforts toward building a peace regime on the peninsula and showed Ethiopia's firm support.
The two countries also agreed on the need to expand their traditional friendly relations, which were forged through Ethiopia's dispatch of troops to the Korean War, to practical cooperation in various sectors such as trade and investment, development cooperation, forestry and the environment.
Both leaders also agreed to seek specific cooperation measures through a ministerial-level joint committee to be formed on the occasion of the summit.
After their talks, the two sides signed five memorandums of understanding on agenda such as the joint committee's formation, visa exemption agreement for diplomatic and official passport holders, and cooperation in education and the environment.
kgh89@korea.kr