Director-Generalfor Policy Planning of  the KoreanForeign Ministry toDiscuss the Developments in the Middle East during his Visit to Cairo

Cairo- July 6, 2007

The Director-General  for Policy Planning Foreign Ministry , Mr. Roh Kwang Il, willbegin his two-day visit to Egypttomorrow to discuss promoting bilateral relations with Egyptian ForeignMinistry officials and issues of common concern especiallythe situation in the Middle East and Northeast Asiaregion.

The Ambassador of the Republic of  Korea to Egypt Mr. Dal ?Ho CHUNG, said during an interview with the MiddleEast News Agency that the Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry, RashidMohamed Rashid, the Minister of Tourism Zohair Gorana, and the Minster of Statefor Environmental Affairs, Maged Gorge, will visit South Korea before the end of this year to discuss boostingcooperation in various fields between the two nations.

Ambassador CHUNG stated that the economicand commercial cooperation between Egyptand South Koreahas witnessed remarkable growth years, with trade exchangeincreasing by 40% from $900 million in 2005 to $1.3 billion in 2006.

"The trade balancebetween the two nations which currently favors South Korea will improve in the next few years due to anincrease in Egyptian natural gas exports to Korea," he said.

The Ambassador pointed outthat the Koreanexports to Egypt consist mainlyof cars, spareparts and electronic goods such as cell phones, computers and television, aswell as tires, while the Egyptian exportsto Koreaconsist mainly  

He stated that theKorean-Egyptian Business Council discussed in May in Seoul cooperation in new fields throughactivating the role of encouragingmore officials fromthe two sides tovisit each other.

Ambassador CHUNG said thatthe total Korean investments in Egyptreach $200 million in 20 small companies, most of them working in trade-related activities, except for the LG factory fortelevisions in Ismailiya.

"The investment climatein Egypthas become more attractive after the economic reforms adopted by the EgyptianGovernment, including privatization of the public sector and the facilitation of theadministrative procedures for," he added.

Ambassador CHUNG stressedthat the Joint Committee for Cultural Cooperation will launch a new project for culturalexchange between 2007 and 2009, which consists of holding musical and art shows in Egypt and Korea.

"Seoul will participatein art shows next year celebrating the 20^th anniversary of the Cairo Opera House,while EgyptianTelevision has broadcasted in the past few year three popular Koreanserials - ''''Winter Sonata'''', ''''Autumn in my Heart'''' and ''''Jewel in the Palace'''' - which the Egyptian viewersloved,"he said.

The Korean LanguageDepartment in Alsun Faculty at Ain Shams Universitywas inaugurated in September 200. At present, it has 23 students in thefirst year and 30 students in the second year the Korean Embassy has been runningKorean languagecourses since 2003.

Ambassador CHUNG stressedthat the Korean Government want to establish a cultural center in Egypt to inform the Arab countries about Korean culture, in order to boost theunderstanding between the Korean and Egyptian peoples.

There are many Koreanvolunteers in Egypt workingin car maintenance, as well as nursing at public hospitals in Cairoand Alexandria,he added.

Ambassador CHUNG stressedthat South Korea isinterested in observing developments in the Middle East, especially theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict. He praised the pioneering and pivotal Egyptian role in solving regional problems.

Healso hopes thatFatah and Hamas will work together to reach peace with Israel, according to the two-nation basis.

The Ambassador said that South Korea will soon send about 400 soldiers toparticipate in UN peacekeeping operations in Southern Lebanon, inaddition to the Koreanforces already participating in reconstruction in Iraq.

Concerning the situation inthe Korean Peninsula,he said that North Koreahas taken positive steps towards destroying its nuclear weapons afterpermitting inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to enter itsnuclear facilities.

Ambassador CHUNG stressedthat nuclear weapons threaten international peace and security.

"South Korea will send humanitarian and food aidto North Korea as its peopleare suffering from an South Korea''''s efforts to boost stability andsecurity in the Korean Peninsula," he said.

Ambassador CHUNG added that South Korea isworking hard to increase its official aid to the African countries, in order to achieve theMillennium Goals by 2015.

He said that an African-South Korean forum was held recently to discusspromoting cooperation between the two sides and supporting sustainabledevelopment in the African nations.