Yoon Holds Second Day of Relay Summits in New York... Accelerates Efforts to Secure New Markets

High-Level Meetings with C?te d'Ivoire, Ghana, Monaco, and Others
Including Many ODA and EDCF Recipient Countries
Strengthening Tailored Cooperation in Agriculture and Digital Sectors, Securing New Markets

President Yoon Suk-yeol met with high-level officials from various countries in Africa, South America, and Europe in New York on the 19th (local time) during his attendance at the 78th United Nations General Assembly high-level segment, seeking cooperation in diverse fields such as economy, digital transformation, and human exchange. This was part of efforts to promote the bid for the 2030 Busan World Expo and to secure new markets through development cooperation.

On the same day, President Yoon held discussions on cooperation measures with high-level officials from C?te d'Ivoire, Ghana, Monaco, Suriname, and Lesotho in downtown New York. Previously, immediately after arriving in New York the day before, President Yoon conducted summit meetings with nine countries?Sri Lanka, San Marino, Burundi, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Montenegro, Turkmenistan, Saint Lucia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina?for a total of seven hours, during which he requested support for the 2030 Busan World Expo bid and discussed economic cooperation.

First, on the morning of the day, President Yoon received Ti?moko Meyliet Kon?, Vice President of C?te d'Ivoire. C?te d'Ivoire is the first African country with which South Korea established diplomatic relations in 1961 and is a key partner in West Africa. President Yoon welcomed C?te d'Ivoire's participation in the K-Rice Belt and proposed exploring concrete cooperation measures to enhance C?te d'Ivoire's food security. The K-Rice Belt is a large-scale Korean-style agricultural official development assistance (ODA) project that supports sustainable rice productivity improvement in Africa by distributing Korean-developed rice varieties, transferring agricultural technology, and building infrastructure. Vice President Kon? expressed gratitude for Korea's support for the National Cancer Center being constructed locally in C?te d'Ivoire and showed anticipation for expanded cooperation. President Yoon responded that Korea will actively contribute to nurturing future talents in C?te d'Ivoire through training medical personnel and youth vocational training projects.

President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee, who are visiting the United States to attend the 78th United Nations General Assembly, are taking a commemorative photo with President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana and his spouse at the Korea-Ghana summit luncheon held in New York on the 19th (local time). [Image source=Yonhap News]

Following this, President Yoon and his wife Kim Keon-hee held their first summit luncheon meeting with Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana, and his spouse. Ghana, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2022?2023, is a key partner country for Korea's ODA and a strategic cooperation country for the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF). Recently, to support Ghana's government-led 'digitalization of society,' Korea introduced a Korean-style electronic customs clearance system and is supporting digital transformation in various fields such as transportation and financial management. President Akufo-Addo highly evaluated the entry of several Korean companies into sectors such as automotive and fisheries and proposed strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries in diverse fields including energy, agriculture, and environment.

After the luncheon, President Yoon held summit meetings with Monaco, Suriname, Lesotho, and Belize, exchanging views on the development of bilateral relations. In the first Korea-Monaco summit since his inauguration, President Yoon proposed strengthening cooperation in the digital sector to Prince Albert II of Monaco. The Monaco government is implementing a digital innovation program. Prince Albert reaffirmed the will for cooperation between the two countries through the Korea-Monaco summit held after eight years and requested expanding exchanges in various fields in the future.

President Yoon also held his first summit meeting since taking office with Chandrikapersad Santokhi, President of Suriname. Suriname is a country in northern South America that participated as UN forces during the Korean War. President Yoon conveyed his intention to continue supporting Suriname's socio-economic development by expanding practical cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, and development cooperation. He also emphasized that Korea would contribute based on its experience in land greening and economic development to Suriname, which is systematically surveying and managing its forest resources. President Santokhi expressed his hope that the abundant resources of Suriname and Korea's advanced technology would create synergy to deepen cooperation between the two countries and hoped for Korea's interest and support in areas such as carbon emission rights, capacity building, and food security.

Immediately after the Korea-Suriname summit, President Yoon continued with a Korea-Lesotho summit with Prime Minister Sam Matekane of Lesotho. Lesotho is a landlocked country in southern Africa that expressed its intention in June this year to participate in the Saemaul Undong international development cooperation project led by Korea. President Yoon promised that the Korean government would actively pursue cooperation projects based on the Saemaul Undong movement to contribute to Lesotho's key goal of improving agricultural productivity and provide necessary support such as agricultural machinery. The two leaders agreed to expand practical cooperation in sectors including manufacturing.

A Korea-Belize summit was also held. President Yoon had previously met with Prime Minister John Brice?o during his visit to Korea in August. The two leaders agreed to further strengthen development cooperation based on the basic grant aid agreement preliminarily signed in August and Belize's inclusion as an EDCF target country, and to enhance cooperation in e-government construction fields such as digital ID and digitalization of land management. President Yoon expressed hope that exchanges between the two cities would become more active through the sister city memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the maritime city of Busan and Belize City. Prime Minister Brice?o said that during his visit to Busan, he was able to witness Busan's development as a global maritime city and its excellent tourism and cultural standards, and he hopes to continue sharing Korea's economic development experience and digital capabilities in the future.