By Kayla Lee

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was in New Delhi, India, for the G20 Summit, held a summit with President Azali Assoumani of the Republic of Comoros who attended as Chairperson of the African Union (AU) on September 9.

During the meeting, President Yoon requested Comoros' support for the 2030 Busan World Expo and exchanged views on ways to develop bilateral relations.

President Yoon congratulated the AU on its full membership in the G20 on the occasion of the G20 Summit, and praised the substantial progress made in bilateral relations between Korea and Comoros.

President Yoon noted that progress has been made in the area of the blue economy, including the visit of a delegation from the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to Comoros in June, and in the area of agriculture, with Comoros joining the African Rice Development Partnership Project in July, and said he looks forward to working more closely together in the future.

In response, President Azali expressed his appreciation for sending a delegation from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to Comoros as a follow-up to the G7 Summit, and said that he looks forward to expanding cooperation between the two countries as the blue economy, agriculture, and climate change response are important parts of Comoros' development.

This was the second bilateral summit held with Comoros, which holds the AU chairmanship this year, following the bilateral summit on the sidelines of the Hiroshima G7 Summit in May, and is considered to be an opportunity to express the will to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation between Korea and Africa.