Egypt and South Korea are now at the stage of the best government-to-government cooperation of all time since the establishment of the Comprehensive Cooperative Partnership in 2016, when President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi paid an official visit to Korea, according to South Korea Ambassador to Cairo Hong-Jin-Wook.
He stressed that the support from each country’s people is crucial for two countries to sustain the excellent relations.
His remarks came during a reception hosted by him at his residence on Monday in commemoration of Korean National Day (3 October) and Armed Forces Day (1 October) of 2022, which also marks the 27th anniversary of Egypt-Korea diplomatic relations.
More than 650 friends of Korea — including Egyptian government officials, businessmen, journalists, and citizens — and Koreans in Egypt joined the reception and witnessed how Egyptian-Korean relations have developed on all levels.
Instead of delivering a long speech, Hong played a video that summarised the embassy’s public diplomacy activities, which aim to establish closer ties to the Egyptian people.
Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait — who joined this feast along with other governmental officials and businessmen such as Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Civil Aviation Mohamed Abbas Helmy, and Chairperson of the Korea-Egypt Business Council Khaled Nosseir —praised the rapidly expanding bilateral relations, especially since President El-Sisi’s visit to Korea in 2016 and the former Korean president’s visit to Egypt earlier this year, reaffirming that no efforts are being spared to attract more Korean investment in Egypt and support them.
Furthermore, Professor Sarah Benjamin and her student Maya Hani from the Korean Language Department of Ain Shams University delivered a beautiful speech in Arabic and Korean.
During the speech, Benjamin and Hani mentioned it is remarkable how the Korean and Egyptian cultures have grown closer in the past few years with the spread of K-pop, K-drama, and Korean-Arab studies. They also expressed their pride that Ain Shams University has played a major role in spreading the Korean language in Egypt, underscoring the importance of language exchange in bringing people together.
Additionally, the event’s participants voiced that it was a great opportunity for both Egyptians and Koreans to better understand how the Korean Embassy has tried to get into the heart of Egyptian people, hoping that it continues its efforts to deepen bilateral relations, especially people-to-people exchanges.
