New ASC Infosheet: South Korea in Africa - From arbitrary foreign policy to win-win ideology

South Korea’s involvement in Africa started with the establishment of diplomatic relations with Cote d’Ivoire in 1961. South Korea’s primary goal in establishing diplomatic relations was its own political recognition: President Chun (1980-1988) visited Nigeria, Gabon, Senegal, and Kenya to gather support for South Korea’s admission to the United Nations and to be recognized as a state. After recognition of both the North and the South by the UN in 1991, South Korea’s interest in Africa waned. It was not until the mid-2000s that South Korea began to take diplomatic relations with Africa seriously again, resulting in the second state visit by a Korean president to Africa in 2006. On his visit to Egypt, Nigeria, and Algeria, President Roh (2003-2008) discussed several trade and investment deals and pledged to increase Korea’s official development assistance (ODA) to Africa threefold by 2008. His successors built on this policy, particularly stressing that South Korea and Africa are engaged in a ‘win-win’ partnership, whereby the former is deeply committed to contributing to the socio-economic development of the latter.

This is ASC Infosheet nr 26. Read the full text.