President Lee Jae Myung on Nov. 23 in South Africa enters the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg, the venue of the third session of the G20 summit of rich and developing economies. (Office of the President)

By Xu Aiying

President Lee Jae Myung returned home on the morning of Nov. 26 after wrapping up his 10-day trip to four nations in the Middle East and Africa.

In his visits to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, South Africa and Turkiye (Turkey), he pledged diverse cooperation with the world in sectors ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) and the defense industry to nuclear energy and culture.

In bilateral talks with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, President Lee adopted a joint declaration on "A New Leap toward a Shared Journey for the Next Century." Seoul also agreed to take part in the ongoing project UAE Stargate to jointly build AI and energy infrastructure.

In Egypt on Nov. 20, President Lee and Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pledged to pursue a comprehensive economic partnership agreement. The Korean leader later announced in a speech at Cairo University his "SHINE" initiative, a strategy of future cooperation between Korea and the Middle East.

President Lee then headed to South Africa to attend the G20 summit of rich and developing economies, the main objective of his overseas tour.

At the event, he presented policies for inclusive economic growth and a vision for a "basic society of global AI." He also took part in the adoption of a leaders' declaration of the G20 South Africa summit containing Korea's plan to host the 2028 edition.

On the final leg of his trip in Turkiye, President Lee on Nov. 24 attended bilateral talks in Ankara with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, agreeing to bolster cooperation in nuclear energy, the defense industry and bio.

The Office of the President in Seoul said of President Lee's tour, "We have boosted our status as a responsible global power and enlarged the scope of our national interest-centered practical diplomacy to the Global South," referring to a region of non-Western and newly emerging economies including Africa.

xuaiy@korea.kr