Rep. Lee Joo-young, the chairman of the Africa New Era Forum of 

the National Assembly.(photo courtesy of Rep. Lee's office)

The Africa New Era Forum of the National Assembly held a launching ceremony on Sept. 13 in the National Assembly Memorial Hall with Rep. Lee Joo-young inauguraated as chairman under the main theme of “The Rising Continent, Africa is Calling.”

Speaker Kang Chang-hee said in his congratulatory speech at the ceremony, “Today we have been made to travel along with Africa with the same dream and in the same direction and we have been able to hold hands with the people of Africa who await sincere help toward their future.” 

“Today, the political situation in Korea has been confrontational, but many legislators are here both from the ruling and opposition sides of the parliament. It is not often you can see so many legislators in one place other than the parliamentary floor and, I think, there is a good reason for this rare event. We are here to contribute more to human society out of our feelings for morality and responsibility that we should do more. Because we look back at a time in our history when we were poor. We hope that our thoughts for each nation on the Dark Continent will be conveyed by the foreign diplomats participating in this gathering,” the speaker said.

He gave special thanks to Rep. Lee and others including Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and businessmen for the birth of this forum.

Kang said he found that Africa is moving toward its future when he toured East Africa some time ago along with Chairman Lee and other legislators, which gave him the opportunity to find out what the true situation is like on the continent. “We got a strong feeling that if those countries in Africa got a little help from rich nations, they can grow strong in no time,” Kang said.

“Korea is where it is today, an emerging nation, with a lot of help from others and it is about time that Korea should share its knowledge of growth with other nations, especially those in Africa.” He continued, “We have a lot to offer to them to help their economic progress such as government policies for economic growth, the Saemaul Movement, a campaign for farm villages to grow economically, and education programs. 

“The forum will be at the center of Korea’s efforts to help the African nations by sharing various experiences that led Korea’s economic growth. Korea may not be able to match the material help from rich nations, but its warm minds will lead those African nations in spurring their economic growth. In this sense, Korea could be a true partner for the future growth of those African nations.”

Chairman Lee, in his inaugural speech at the ceremony, said Africa has reached a new age with its rich natural resources with many business firms in advanced nations including the United States and the EU and even China, converging on the continent for businesses and cooperation with African firms, especially in the area of the exploration of natural resources.

“It is no longer a continent with many poor countries and many sick people with no hope for growth and in need of help,” the chairman proclaimed in his speech. “Africa today is approaching us with a new face and its about time that Korean businesses turned their eyes to the Dark Continent and searched for business opportunities and chances for cooperation not limited to small areas, but expand to economic, social, cultural, and other areas to set up a base for broader cooperation in all areas,” Lee added.

The new Africa forum was launched from the legislative side with the purpose of providing support to Korea’s advancement into Africa by the government and businesses with many National Assembly members joining the forum.

Rep. Lee Joo-young, the chairman of the Africa New Era Forum of 

the National Assembly.(photo courtesy of Rep. Lee's office)

“I hope that our intentions will be a very good fertilizer for Korea’s growing relations with Africa in many areas and will some day in the future bear bountiful fruit,” Lee said.

The forum is an organization born with many legislators feeling that the National Assembly should do its given duty to help Korea forge closer relations with Africa in broad areas.

Lee thanked a number of dignitaries present at the initial meeting of the forum such as Speaker Kang Chang-hee of the National Assembly, Minister Yoon Byung-se of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kenya’s Ambassador to Korea Ngobi Kitau, and members of the foreign diplomatic corp. in Seoul for taking time out from their busy schedules to attend the forum.