February 24, 2007 

Al-Ahram newspaper

Page 5

20 cm x 20 cm

South Korean Ambassador to Cairo:

Common interests lead the Korean- Arabrelations towards development

Despite not being isolated from theMiddle East disputes and cases, either through working as a Consul in Iraq, orthrough the other posts assumed at international organization as an ambassadorto his country, the new South Korean Ambassador to Egypt Dal-ho Chung stated onhis arrival in Egypt that he had been studying the Middle East files and theIslamic, and Arabic culture.

On stepping at his office, you find thatthese files are jostling for priority of his interest.  He is a “serious” diplomat who would like todeepen the knowledge of Arab and Islamic culture in order to fulfil his tasksas best as possible, serve his country and develop the Arab-Korean relations ashe says.

Driven by theabove, Al-Ahram had the following interview with him.

Al-Ahram: After 11 years, how do you evaluate thelevel of the bilateral Egyptian Korean Relations?

The Ambassador: there are a growing interest from theKorean side towards Egypt and the Arab and Islamic Culture. In return I havenoticed the growing interest of the Egyptians to get in touch with Asiancultures, particularly the Asian economic growth model. The clear evidence isthat the number of Korean tourists to Egypt reached 60,000 tourists last year,which is a 20 per cent increase compared to 2005. I expect this interest togrow. I personally think that we started to deepen the mutual cultural andcivilization understanding, which means that we can boost and deepen ourcooperation. Without exaggeration, I can say the political and economicbilateral relations are excellent, and we hope for more cooperation to reachhigher levels. The bilateral trade volume is closed to US$ two billionannually.       

Al-Ahram: How Many Korean companies are investing inEgypt?

The Ambassador: Around twenty companies with totalinvestment of US$150 million. I have met several Korean businessmen,particularly from small and medium enterprises, and they are willing tocooperate with Egyptian companies and invest in the Egyptian market.

As you know,Korean President Roh-Moo Hyun visited Egypt last year and that PresidentMubarak has an open invitation to visit Korea whenever convenient. There havebeen several exchange visits and we are expecting the Egyptian Ministers ofTourism and Environment to visit Korea this year. 

Furthermore, theKorea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) provided a cooperation programmeworth US$18 million from 1991 to 2006. Since the establishment of the full diplomatic relations in 1995, KOICAhas been supplying an annual aid programme worth US$4 million annually.  KOICA also trained 450 Egyptian trainees inKorea to improve their efficiency and dispatched more than 200 Korean volunteersand 22 experts to provide the Egyptian Government with assistance andconsultations.

KOICA program focused on developmentprojects particularly related to the information technology and communicationand automobile technical training*. We expect technical cooperation with Egyptto increase in 2007 as a “partner” with a priority in 2007 since Egypt has agreat importance in the region,

I would also liketo mention that 50 Egyptians will be invited to Korea for training courses incommunication, information technology and environment customs and improvingexecutive skills. Moreover, the Korean government is currently studying atripartite cooperation with Egypt to train Africans in Egypt. This matter iscurrently under review by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

Al-Ahram:Korean President Roh-Moo Hyun is seriously trying to cement Arab-Koreanrelations during his term in office. He visited several Arab countriesincluding Egypt last year and intends to visit other countries, this year. WillArab-Korean relations be expected to flourish this year?

The Ambassador: I think we can see President Roh’sinitiative to support relations with Arab countries from two angles. Firstlywidening economic cooperation with Arab countries, since, as you know, Koreaneeds energy and natural sources and we need better economic relations withArab countries.

Secondly, it ismore in the long-run, over the previous decades we had limited contacts betweenArab and Islamic culture and Korean culture. So that establishing Koreanlanguage departments and Korean culture centres in Arab countries, particularlyEgypt, is essential. This was the reason to establish a Korean languagedepartment in Ain Shams University two years ago. Meanwhile, there is a growingimportance among the Arab counties and Egypt towards understanding otherculture and civilizations particularly the Asian.

I think that sucha trend serve bilateral relations as well as peace and stability in the world.

Al-Ahram: Few Koreans speak Arabic and know aboutthe Islamic culture, but less Egyptians know about the Korean language andculture. In your view, how are you going to increase this number?

The Ambassador: we are preparing several programmes torealise this goal.  This year we areinviting around 30 Egyptians from different cultural spheres to Korea toparticipate with their Korean counterparts in cultural forums to deepencultural exchange. We are also dispatching Korean researchers and academicsthis year to support contacts among the two countries academics. Furthermore,there is the Korean studies programme at Cairo University which serve the sameaims.

Moreover, thisyear will witness more Korean artistic and cultural activities in Egypt. Forexample, Korean traditional musicians and dancers will perform in severalEgyptian cities and we are expecting more activities in the future.          

* As faithful tothe Arabic original.