President Park Geun-hye and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn held summit talks in Addis Ababa on May 26. The two leaders discussed measures to bolster cooperation on a wide range of sectors, including the economy, trade, investment, infrastructure construction, economic development and security. Also during the meeting, Prime Minister Desalegn vowed to support denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

The two governments signed a total of 40 memorandums of understanding (MOU), 36 of which covered the economy and one that covered defense cooperation. These MOUs will help Korean firms participate in Ethiopia’s infrastructure construction projects, including the building of an expressway between the cities of Gore and Tepi in western Ethiopia, worth some USD 690 million. Korea and Ethiopia also signed MOUs to cooperate on the textile industry, textile technology and the construction of a textile industrial complex at a 1 million-square-meter site in Adama, 74 kilometers to the east of Addis Ababa.

The two governments agreed to strengthen cooperation through Korea’s new development cooperation program, Korea Aid. President Park told the Ethiopian leader that her administration will work on promoting the New Community Movement in Ethiopia. She also urged the Ethiopian government to take an interest in and to support Korea Aid so that it can become an effective, sustainable model for development cooperation.

The two leaders voiced their opinions on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, and on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. President Park said that, "The international community needs to unite and put pressure on North Korea so it recognizes it will have no future unless it gives up its nuclear weapons program." She then asked Ethiopia, as a member of the African Union (AU) and as a country that has ratified the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, to lend its support in upholding U.N. Security Council resolutions that will force North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

To this, Prime Minister Desalegn said, "Ethiopia will, as it has in the past, continue to support the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." The Ethiopian prime minister said that his country will faithfully implement the U.N. Security Council resolutions adopted in March this year. He also vowed to make efforts to get other African countries to support denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula by exercising Ethiopia's influence across the continent.

During the summit the two nations signed an MOU that outlines cooperation on bilateral defense.
"With the signing of this MOU, I hope that our two nations will be able to cooperate on many fronts, including military training and defense," said President Park.

By Yoon Sojung, Lee Hana
Korea.net Staff Writers
Photos: Cheong Wa Dae, Yonhap News
arete@korea.kr