Korean Ambassador Hails Strategic Partnership between Cairo-Seoul

On Monday, the Ambassador of South Korea, Hong Jinwook, invited Egyptian journalists to the Embassy and briefed on his thoughts and impressions looking back on his ten-month unceasing efforts at the diplomatic scene to upgrade Egypt-Korea relations since his arrival to Cairo in June last year.

The Ambassador noted that although it was quite a challenge to commence his post amid the deteriorating Covid-19 pandemic, all the hard work adjusting to the new normal in times of Covid-19 to enhance the bilateral relations duly paid off.

He also emphasized that the past ten months were an opportunity to fully understand the importance of the two countries’ strategic partnership and the necessity of continuous efforts to further develop this partnership to the sustainable one.

In this context, Ambassador Hong also explained that based upon the realization that public diplomacy to promote two people’s mutual understanding is no less important than G2G cooperation for two countries’ enduring relations.

Ambassador Hong expressed his pleasure to have witnessed that Korean companies are participating in the Egyptian government’s projects for providing Egyptian people with a decent life, such as the Project for supplying modernized trains for Cairo Metro Line 3 and the Project of modernizing signaling and communication systems on the Nag Hammadi / Luxor line.

He explained that bilateral relations are tracked in the right direction for mutual benefits. Major Korean companies including Samsung/ LG electronics and Hyundai Rotem, to name a few, are expanding the localization of their product in Egypt. GS construction successfully completed the Project of the ERC refinery plant last year. This kind of cooperation contributes to strengthening the manufacturing capability of Egypt as well as enhancing the engagement of Korea in this region.

Following the Ambassador’s briefing, the Director of Korean Cultural Center Oh Sungho gave a presentation on ways to strengthen the online programs of King Sejong Institute in Cairo, one of the Korean language institutes established by the Korean government, and to expand online cultural events in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Moreover, Heads of Public Diplomacy and Economic Sections respectively gave an explanation on the Embassy’s public diplomacy events during the Holy Month of Ramadan and the recent economic cooperation between the two countries.