ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia and South Korea and agreed to launch a joint committee which led by their top diplomats, for deepening bilateral partnerships.
The countries agreed yesterday after the discussion between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Moon Jae-in following the two day long official state visit by the premier in Seoul.
The leaders shared a view with that the two sides need to expand their traditional friendly ties to mutually beneficial and substantive cooperation in trade, investment, development cooperation, forestry and environment.
The leaders agreed to seek concrete ways for cooperation via the ministerial joint committee to be established on the occasion of their summit.
Therefore the mark of the agreement has been inked while foreign ministers of the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the Cheong Wa Dae summit, the executive office and official residence of the South Korean head of state.
The committee will hold a meeting every two years aimed at strengthening cooperation in various fields, including politics, business, consular affairs, culture, technology, education and science. In order to facilitate bilateral trade and investment, Moon and Abiy also agreed on the need for an investment promotion and protection accord.
Abiy reaffirmed his nation’s firm support for South Korea’s efforts for denuclearization and establishment of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. Immediately after their Cheong Wa Dae summit, the two sides also signed MOUs on visa waivers for diplomatic and official passport holders and cooperation on environment and standard-related systems.
Under another MOU signed the same day, South Korea will provide Ethiopia with 86 million USD in project loans for the construction of research centers at Adama Science and Technology University.
Ethiopia is a time-honored friend of South Korea as the sole African country that dispatched ground troops to help it fight against invading North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War. It sent 3,518 service members. Among them, 122 were killed and 536 were wounded.
Ethiopia, home to the African Union, consisting of 55 member states, is South Korea’s largest African partner in development cooperation. Abiy arrived in Seoul on Sunday, along with his wife, for his first trip to South Korea since June 2013 as a member of a parliamentary delegation.
He became the first Ethiopian leader to travel to South Korea in eight years. He served as head of the friendly association of South Korean and Ethiopian lawmakers from February 2012 till April 2018.
This visit marks the first trip to South Korea by an African leader since the launch of the Moon administration in May 2017. Prime Minister Abiy and his delegation commenced the official state visit in Seoul, South Korea by laying a wreath at the Seoul National Cemetery reserved for Korean veterans.
Ethiopia and South Korea relations date to the 1950s when Emperor Haileselassie I sent battalions of his Imperial Body Guard to join the UN forces during the Korean War.
The Prime Minister visited the Korea Institute for Science and Technology (KIST) together with his delegation where they were briefed on the contribution of science and technology in building Korea’s strong economy, according to office of the Prime Minister.
While the current cooperation between Ethiopia and KIST exists with the Ministry of Science and Education as well as Adama Science and Technology University, Prime Minister Dr Ahmed expressed interest in collaborating to set up an institute like KIST in Ethiopia.
Upon arrival, Abiy was welcomed in an official ceremony by the Government of South Korea. Members of the Ethiopian community in Seoul also warmly welcomed the PM and his delegation. PM Abiy also met with members of the Ethiopian community in a dinner reception organized by the Ethiopian Embassy to Korea.
(The Ethiopian Herald used Yonhap News, South Korea’s news agency and other media to develop this story.)
The Ethiopian Herald, August 27/2019
BY YOHANES JEMANEH
