Ethiopian Prime Minister to Visit Seoul for Talks with Moon

14:49 August 23, 2019

SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Yonhap) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali will travel to South Korea next week for talks with President Moon Jae-in on a broad range of partnerships between their countries, Moon's office said Friday.

Arriving Sunday for the three-day trip, he will become the first leader of Ethiopia to visit South Korea in eight years. It also marks the first trip to South Korea by an African leader since the launch of the Moon administration in May 2017.

In their meeting, slated for Monday, Moon and Abiy plan to discuss ways to "strengthen mutually beneficial, future-oriented substantive cooperation" in various sectors, including trade, investment, development cooperation, science and technology, as well as environment, forest and climate change, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

The two sides will also reaffirm support for each other's regional peace initiative, it added.

Earlier this year, Abiy won the UNESCO Peace Prize for his actions in the region and, in particular, for having been the instigator of a peace agreement between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Ethiopia is a traditional 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 made a visit to South Korea in June 2013 in a parliamentary delegation, as he served as head of the friendly association of South Korean and Ethiopian lawmakers from February 2012 till April 2018.

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