South Korea’s “Summit Diplomacy” Opens up Africa and Expands African Energy Supply

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun concluded his seven-day visit to Egypt, Nigeria and Algeria on the afternoon of the 13th. This is the first visit by a South Korean president to the African continent in 24 years. South Korean public opinion generally believes that Roh Moo-hyun's visit to Africa is a new beginning for South Korea's diplomacy in the region and an important measure for South Korea to explore the African market and seek to diversify its energy supply.

Li Dunqiu, director of the Korean Peninsula Research Center of the World Development Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said in a telephone interview with this newspaper: "It is not accidental that Roh Moo-hyun chose this time to visit Africa."

Looking at the overall background, South Korea's current position is very delicate. While the alliance with the United States cannot be completely dissolved, South Korea and the United States have conflicts of interest, especially the growing differences between the two sides on the Korean Peninsula issue.

Li Dunqiu believes that if South Korea wants to distance itself from the United States, step outside the regional diplomatic framework of Northeast Asia, and expand South Korea's diplomatic space, Africa, which has not been taken seriously for many years, will naturally become the first choice. Since the beginning of this year, South Korean leaders and officials have visited Africa one after another, significantly increasing diplomatic and economic cooperation with Africa, reflecting major changes in South Korea's foreign policy. The South Korean government also intends to cooperate with Japan, which has always attached great importance to non-governmental development assistance. Strategic diplomatic competition for the future.

During this visit to Africa, Roh Moo-hyun announced that the South Korean government will triple the current number of development aid projects for African governments in the next three years. Especially for Nigeria, South Korea decided to implement a free aid plan totaling US$1.7 million.

In addition, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon has publicly announced his candidacy for the next United Nations Secretary-General. In this regard, Li Dunqiu said that although it cannot be said that the main purpose of Roh Moo-hyun's visit to Africa is to win support for Ban Ki-moon, African countries do have a certain influence in the competition for the position of the next United Nations Secretary-General.

When President Roh Moo-hyun visited Egypt, he clearly received Egyptian President Mubarak’s support for Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon’s candidacy for the next United Nations Secretary-General. Nigeria and Algeria have not yet made a clear stance on this issue.

The United States, Russia, Japan and other countries have recently been fully exerting their diplomatic power to secure resources, which has inspired South Korea, which is overly dependent on Middle East crude oil. During Roh Moo-hyun’s visit to Africa, South Korea’s ambassador to Nigeria Kim Dong-won once said: “For South Korea, the African continent is a very important place that can ensure South Korea’s energy and resources.” In this regard, Li Dunqiu pointed out that Roh Moo-hyun’s visit was the biggest It is characterized by a strong “energy diplomacy” nature.

In Egypt, the first stop of Roh Moo-hyun's visit to Africa, South Korea and Egypt decided to increase cooperation between Korean companies in Egypt's energy development projects and petrochemical facilities and other complete sets of technologies. In Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, President Roh Moo-hyun signed a contract with Nigeria to jointly exploit two offshore oil fields. The contracted output is equivalent to South Korea's two and a half years of oil consumption, further broadening South Korea's crude oil supply line. During his visit to Algeria, South Korea and Algeria signed a memorandum of cooperation on natural gas, solar power generation and the expansion of joint oil reserves.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency commented that the significance of Roh Moo-hyun's visit is to consolidate the foundation of cooperation between South Korea and Africa in the energy field, strengthen cooperation between the two sides at the United Nations and other international arenas, and further consolidate the foundation of diplomatic cooperation between the two sides.

A South Korean government official said after Roh Moo-hyun concluded his trip to Africa: "Such efforts will enhance South Korea's international status and ensure South Korea's healthy development."