The president of the Korea-Africa Foundation, an affiliate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, vowed to support the young friendship between South Korea and Africa and then build deeper relations based on mutual respect and understanding.
“Our historical relationship is relatively recent due to distance. However, we are now overcoming physical distance through conscious effort,” said KAF President Kim Young-chae in opening remarks at the Africa Day 2025 Korea-Africa Business Forum held at Grand Hyatt Seoul on Wednesday.
The foundation seeks to continue its efforts to strengthen the ongoing partnership between Korea and Africa, which is represented not only by the number of embassies in their respective countries, but also by their ever-expanding people-to-people exchanges, African institutes at Korean universities, trade companies, nongovernmental organizations and more.
“The KAF will play its part, working hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the National Assembly, the African Group of Ambassadors, the African Union and our partners across both regions,” Kim told the forum, which was co-hosted by the Herald Media Group, the African Group of Ambassadors and the KAF.
“And it is one of our objectives to help connect Africa with our provincial governments,” Kim added, explaining that the foundation will strive to create more opportunities to connect Africa with a wider range of organizations in Korea.
sj_lee@heraldcorp.com
