By Kim Ji-eun

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is in New York for the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held a summit with President Faustin-Archange Touadera of the Central African Republic on the morning of September 20.

During the meeting, President Yoon requested the Central African Republic's support for the 2030 Busan World Expo and exchanged views on ways to develop bilateral relations through the event.

President Yoon welcomed the momentum of the bilateral relationship that was established during President Touadera's visit to Korea last year and the active high-level exchanges between the two countries. 

President Yoon also noted that since his visit, President Touadera has introduced and actively implemented the Saemaul movement in Central African Republic, and has shown great interest and willingness to strengthen cooperation with Korea, including the establishment of the Korea-Central African Cooperation Commission within the Central African government. 

In response, President Touadera expressed his deep appreciation for the Republic of Korea's support for the national development of the Central African Republic through various development cooperation projects, and expressed his hope to build a reciprocal partnership with the Republic of Korea, saying that the country's development and experience in becoming a global economic powerhouse are very inspiring.

President Yoon introduced the first-ever Korea-Africa Summit to be held in Seoul next year and invited President Touadera to attend. President Touadera responded by saying that he expects the 2024 Summit to be a great opportunity for the development of bilateral relations.

The two leaders agreed to use the meeting as an opportunity to continue identifying cooperative projects that will benefit both economies.