With a view to broadening the scope of diplomacy of Korea towards Africa under the COVID-19 pandemic

1. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choi Jong Kun will travel to Morocco, Senegal and Nigeria from August 14 to 21. The three countries are Korea’s key cooperation partners in North and West Africa.

o  During this first travel to Africa by a Korean Vice Minister after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vice Minister Choi will pay high-level courtesy calls, have bilateral meetings, visit sites of development cooperation funded by the Korean government, and attend meetings with Korean businesspeople.

2. This visit was arranged to broaden the scope of diplomacy of Korea towards Africa as a mid-range advanced country and to respond to requests made by African countries for stronger cooperation with Korea with a view to seeking post-COVID-19 cooperation with Africa in a mutually beneficial manner in areas where Korea has a competitive advantage, such as health, education, infrastructure and the manufacturing industry. 

o With Morocco and Senegal, with which Korea will mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations next year, Vice Minister Choi will seek to discuss ways to expand bilateral and multilateral exchanges and cooperation. In Nigeria, maritime security cooperation in the Gulf of Guinea will be discussed among other agendas.

o In addition, Vice Minister Choi will seek measures to support Korean companies’ bids to take a step towards the African market, which is emerging as a single giant market following the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). 

3. Also, during his visit to Senegal, next year’s chair of the African Union, Vice Minister Choi will seek cooperation in preparation for the 5th Korea-Africa Forum to be co-hosted by Korea and the African Union in Seoul in December 2021, while extending an invitation to the Foreign Minister of Senegal to the Forum.

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※ With an aim to strengthen partnership with the African continent, the Korea-Africa Forum was first held in 2006 at the ministerial level, and the 5th Korea-Africa Forum will be held in Seoul this December.

4. As this year marks the 60th year since Korea started to establish diplomatic ties with African countries, Vice Minister Choi’s visit to the three African countries will serve to further broaden the horizon of Korea’s diplomacy.

※ In 1961, Korea established diplomatic ties with Cote D I’voire, Niger, Benin, Chad, Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo.