Cairo: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday held summit talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and agreed to work together to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the Middle East while strengthening economic and defense industry cooperation.
The summit in Cairo took place during Lee’s official visit to Egypt, the first by a South Korean president to the nation in three years.
“The Republic of Korea and Egypt have agreed to work together as ‘facilitators of peace’ and jointly contribute to international peace, including on the Korean Peninsula and in the Middle East,” Lee said in a joint press briefing at the presidential palace in Cairo, referring to South Korea’s official name, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Lee said President El-Sisi praised Seoul’s efforts to open a new era of peaceful coexistence and shared growth on the Korean Peninsula and expressed his full support.
In return, Lee praised Egypt’s efforts to secure a ceasefire and advance reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, as well as its broader role in promoting Middle East peace. He added that South Korea will continue cooperating with Egypt to help address the humanitarian crisis facing Gaza refugees.
Lee said the two sides also discussed ways to expand “mutually beneficial” defence cooperation beyond the joint production of K9 howitzers into such areas as aircraft and ground weapons systems.
In 2022, Egypt signed a USD 1.7 billion contract with Korean defence firm Hanwha Aerospace to procure K9 self-propelled howitzers and other equipment, with the delivery scheduled for next year.
“I expressed hope that our bilateral defence cooperation will further expand to include systems such as the FA-50 advanced trainers and the Cheongeom anti-tank missiles,” he said.
President El-Sisi, he added, expressed confidence in Korea’s defence technologies and interest in joint production of weapons systems.
During the summit, South Korea and Egypt singed a joint declaration to promote negotiations for the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to establish an institutional framework for expanding economic ties.
“The CEPA will serve as an important institutional foundation supporting broad economic cooperation,” Lee said. “We hope negotiations for the CEPA between our two countries can begin as soon as possible.
The two nations also signed memorandums of understanding on education and cultural exchanges to facilitate people-to-people ties, amid the rising popularity of Korean content in Egypt.
“Egypt is a leading country in cultural content in the Middle East, and has a strong interest in Korean content, including drama, K-pop, food and Korean language,” Lee said.
After the summit, Lee plans to deliver a speech at Cairo University to outline his vision for deeper engagement with the Middle East.
Later in the day, Lee is scheduled to meet with Korean residents in Egypt.
(IANS)
