President Park Geun-hye on Thursday vowed to further cement a cooperative partnership with Ethiopia, emphasizing that South Korea will remain a "reliable partner" for the African state's growth and development.
In her contribution to the state-run Ethiopian Herald daily newspaper, Park also touted Ethiopia's potential to grow as Africa's economic powerhouse in the "not-too-distant" future, highlighting Seoul's commitment to forging "mutually beneficial" relations.
The contribution was published Wednesday (Ethiopian time), when Park arrived in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, the first leg of her four-nation trip to Africa and France.
"My tour of Africa will provide a valuable opportunity for the Republic of Korea to share the vision of 'an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa' and, in particular, expand and further develop cooperative partnerships with Ethiopia and other African countries," she said.
Park chose Ethiopia as her first destination in Africa as the two nations have shared a "special affinity" stemming from Ethiopia's participation in the 1950-53 Korean War in support of South Korea, she pointed out.
"Though geographically far apart, Korea and Ethiopia became brothers by blood in the 1950s during the Korean War," she said.
During the first major armed conflict of the Cold War, Ethiopia deployed to the Korean Peninsula more than 6,000 troops of its battalion, named "Kagnew" -- meaning establishing order from chaos.
To honor those "Kagnew heroes," Park plans to participate in the ceremony on Friday to commemorate the 65th anniversary of their participation in the war, she said.
Beyond the expansion of economic cooperation, Park pledged to bolster South Korea's support in the areas of health care and nutrition through its "Korea Aid" project, share its know-how on socio-economic development with Ethiopia, and increase cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
"I hope that through all such forms of cooperation, our two nations will further cherish and nurture our bonds of blood and friendship, and establish a mutually beneficial partnership in which we can learn and grow together," she said.
South Korea is seeking to explore new business opportunities in the African continent, while Ethiopia hopes to gain development support from the Asia's fourth-largest economy.
Ethiopia has been pushing for an ambitious 10-year growth plan, called "Vision 2025." Under the initiative, Ethiopia aims to annually raise its gross domestic product by 11 percent and its manufacturing sector by 25 percent over the next decade. (Yonhap)
