1. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Insun held bilateral meetings on February 5 with Steven Kiruswa, Deputy Minister of Minerals of Tanzania; Phumzile Mgcina, Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy of South Africa; and Winston Chitando, Minister of Mines and Mining Development of Zimbabwe, during her visit to South Africa.
2. In her meeting with Deputy Minister Kiruswa of Tanzania, Vice Minister Kang expressed Korea’s hope to deepen its partnership with Tanzania, Korea's key cooperation partner in East Africa. She requested Tanzania’s continued support for the successful implementation of the Mahenge Graphite Project, a flagship project under the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) in which Korean companies are participating. Deputy Minister Kiruswa reaffirmed Tanzania’s support for the project and expressed hope that bilateral cooperation in the minerals sector would expand to other areas such as agriculture and education.
3. In her meeting with Deputy Minister Mgcina of South Africa, Vice Minister Kang commended South Africa for successfully hosting the Mining Indaba, Africa's largest mining investment event, and emphasized the need to strengthen economic cooperation between Korea and South Africa. Deputy Minister Mgcina expressed hope that Korean investments would expand in South Africa and contribute to local job creation and economic development.
4. During her meeting with Minister Chitando of Zimbabwe, Vice Minister Kang noted the significant potential for mutually complementary cooperation with Zimbabwe, a country rich in mineral resources. Minister Chitando expressed hope that technologically advanced Korean companies would enter the Zimbabwean market and foster mutually beneficial cooperation.