1. The Foreign Ministry's Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Lee Kyung-soo will visit Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia from July 6 through 13 to discuss ways to promote substantive cooperation between the Republic of Korea and those countries.

2. During its upcoming African tour, the ROK delegation will reaffirm its willingness to usher in an "era of happiness for the global community," one of the ROK government's foreign policy objectives. To this end, it will build high-level human networks with the African countries; seek out substantive cooperation projects aimed at their development and growth; and discuss with them ways to boost bilateral exchanges.

3. On July 7 and 8, Deputy Minister Lee will visit Kenya, with which the ROK marks its 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year, and attend the second meeting of the ROK-Kenya Joint Economic Commission. The meeting will cover ways for the two countries to work more closely together in a wide range of fields, including economy, trade, energy, resources, infrastructure and development. After the meeting, the Deputy Minister will visit Kenya's Ministry of Finance to sign the bilateral Framework Agreement on Grant Aid as well as the Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income, and the Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investments.

4. From July 8 to 10, Deputy Minister Lee will visit Uganda to pay a courtesy call on President Yoweri Museveni and hold meetings with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Henry Okello and Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Irene Muloni. On the occasions, the two sides will follow up on the bilateral summit talks held in Seoul on May 30, 2013, by discussing possible projects for substantive cooperation in such fields as energy, infrastructure and development, as well as ways to work more closely together on the international stage.

5. From July 10 to 12, Deputy Minister Lee will visit Ethiopia. He will meet with the Vice-President of the African Union (AU) Executive Council to discuss ways to strengthen the ROK-AU partnership. He will also meet with Ethiopia's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Berhane Gebre-Christos to discuss ways to expand economic exchanges and step up development cooperation between the ROK and Ethiopia, a country that fought alongside the ROK in the Korean War.

6. The Deputy Minister's forthcoming visit to Africa, a continent with abundant natural and human resources and undergoing a rapid growth, carries significance as an opportunity to maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges with African countries following the visits to the ROK by the Presidents of Uganda and Mozambique in 2013; to promote substantive cooperation with African countries; to pave the way for Korean companies’ entry into their markets; and to broaden the ROK's diplomatic horizon. 


                Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation