President Park Geun-hye’s current tour of three African countries -- Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya -- should be successful in several respects.
Most of all, South Korea and Africa had never had greater mutual need to develop close economic relationship than now. The African continent is emerging as a new growth engine for the global economy while the South Korean economy, after decades of stellar growth, is sputtering and needs a boost.
In fact, major African countries have been pulling off high economic growth rates in recent years. During 2011-2015, seven of the top 10 economies with the fastest growth of gross domestic product were in Africa.
This alone means that the continent should no longer be regarded only as a region with vast land and abundant natural resources. Massive development projects and a fast growing market in the continent could help drive global economic growth.
The Korean economy, trapped in a low-growth trap, too could benefit a lot from closer economic ties with African countries. That Korean exports to Africa accounted for 1.4 percent of its total outbound shipments last year points to the continent’s potential as a more important partner.
In this sense, Park was well advised to put together a powerful economic delegation -- the second-biggest of its kind consisting of 169 executives from 166 companies -- to accompany her on the trip, which will also take her to France
Park’s trip to Africa -- the fourth by a South Korean head of state -- also should bolster the country’s political relationships in the region, which in general was closer to North Korea than South Korea.
For instance, Uganda, the second leg of Park’s visit, had maintained close political and military ties with North Korea, which was the main reason that it was not on the itinerary of the three previous South Korean presidents who traveled to Africa.
It is obvious that North Korea -- which is facing the toughest-yet international sanctions for its nuclear and missile provocations -- is still bent on retaining its traditional relations with African countries.
It was a few days before Park arrived in Addis Ababa that Kim Yong-nam, the North’s ceremonial head and president of the Supreme People’s Assembly, visited Equatorial Guinea to attend its presidential inauguration. Earlier this year, the U.N. reported that North Korea sold arms to Congo and built an ammunitions factory in Namibia.
It is against this backdrop that Park made a good decision to take Vice Defense Minister Hwang In-moo on her visit. Hwang’s talks with military leaders in Uganda and other African countries should pave the way for South Korea to initiate military cooperation with them. This could put further pressure on North Korea at a time when even countries like China and Russia have joined the international sanctions against it.
On Friday, Park plans to deliver an address at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa. We hope she will provide a clear vision and blueprint for forging closer relationships between South Korea and Africa, and more importantly, concrete action plans to achieve that vision.
