On February 23, 2017, the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs received Mr. Go Yoon – Son, Ambassador of the Republic of South Korea to Egypt. The Korean Defense Attaché, Mr. Kim Jin Moo and other Korean Embassy members accompanied him to the meeting with Ambassador Dr. Mounir Zahran, ECFA Chair, Ambassador Dr. Ezzat Saad, ECFA Director and several ECFA members.

Ambassador Mounir Zahran welcomed the Korean Ambassador and the delegation, stressing the depth of the two countries’ long and common history since the 1950s, which was recently strengthened by President Sisi’s visit to South Korea in January 2016, and rising the level of trade exchange between the two countries and the aspiration to develop relations between the two sides in all fields of socio-economic development and in the exchange of views on all issues of common concern.

In conclusion, Ambassador Zahran emphasized the need to shed light on developments in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in the context of the new US administration’s declaration of withdrawal from the Convention.

The Korean Ambassador began his speech by thanking ECFA for the invitation, adding that he would speak about the North East Asian security environment, North Korea’s nuclear tests and threats, as well as Korean-Egyptian bilateral relations.

On the Egyptian-Korean relations, Korean Ambassador said that, Egypt and Korea have firm and strong relations which were further strengthened by President Sisi’s rule and his visit to South Korea earlier this year. This was followed by visits by many Korean personalities and the holding of meetings between the two ministers of industry in March 2016 in order to discuss what the Korean companies can offer in the field of economic development in the context of Egypt’s experience and economic reform program, as well as its competitive advantage of being a large consumer market and open to the development of technology and chemical industries, in addition to Egypt’s recent development of its infrastructure in the past period.

There are also great opportunities for cooperation in the field of governance and the establishment of smart villages, as well as cultural exchange and the provision of training grants to transfer Korean expertise to the Egyptian market in all fields. The Korean ambassador expressed hope that this cooperation will continue and move to more fields related to enhance cooperation at the cultural and popular levels.

There were extensive discussions by the ECFA members on all the issues raised by the Korean Ambassador.