Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Insun (second from left) on Feb. 5 holds a bilateral summit with Tanzania's Deputy Minister of Minerals Steven Kiruswa on the occasion of a Korea-Africa dialogue on critical minerals in South Africa.

By Gil Kyuyoung

Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Insun on Feb. 5 held bilateral summits with Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe on cooperation in critical minerals.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul said she attended talks with Tanzania's Deputy Minister of Minerals Steven Kiruswa; South Africa's Deputy Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Phumzile Mgcina; and Zimbabwe's Minister of Mines and Mining Development Winston Chitando on the occasion of a Korea-Africa dialogue on critical minerals.

At the event, Vice Minister Kang explained Korea's policy toward global cooperation in critical minerals and urged that bilateral cooperative ties formed through the Korea-Africa Summit last year continues.

Her African counterparts thanked Korea for offering an important opportunity for cooperation between Korea and Africa in critical minerals, pledging to expand cooperation in other sectors that include such minerals.

In her talks with Tanzania, Vice Minister Kang said, "We request your cooperation for the successful implementation of the Mahenge Liandu Graphite Project, a leading venture of the Mineral Security Partnership in which Korean companies are participating."

The Tanzanian deputy minister said, "We hope that bilateral cooperation expands from minerals to other fields like agriculture and education."

To Deputy Minister Mgcina, Vice Minister Kang said, "Let's boost various economic cooperation including critical minerals with South Africa, Korea's largest trading partner in Africa."

The South African official responded by saying her side hopes that Korean companies expand investment and presence in South Africa and help job creation and economic development.

In her talks with Zimbabwe, Vice Minister Kang said, "We laud the potential for cooperation with Zimbabwe, a mineral-rich country."

Minister Chitando responded by urging Korean companies with high technology capacity to do business in Zimbabwe and continue mutually beneficial cooperation.

The ministry said, "These bilateral summits offered the opportunity to further boost the basis for economic cooperation with Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe, three leading African countries for critical mineral reserves."

gilkyuyoung@korea.kr