By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo

(New Year Message)
Dear readers of the Diplomacy Journal,

On behalf of the Government and people of the Republic of Kenya, I want to extend our warm greetings for the new year 2025 to you and your families and wish you good health, peace, happiness and prosperity.

As we close  2024 ,  we are happy to inform that Kenya  is celebrating  2 special milestones, 61 years of Independence as well as 60 Years of diplomatic relations between Kenya and Republic of Korea. This cordial bilateral relationship has steered cooperation in areas of Education, Infrastructure development, ICT, Agriculture and Health. The highlight on a bilaterial level, was on the margins of the inaugural Korea-Africa summit when Kenya’s delegation led by H.E. President William Ruto meet with H.E. President Yoon Suk-Yeol to further discussions on the areas of benefit  for both countries.

It is worth noting that , Kenya is host to several Korean companies such as Kumkang Kind East Africa Ltd, Posco International, Samsung C& T Corporation, Dohwa Engineering, LG Electronics Africa FZE, Samsung Electronics, Korea Engineering Consultants Corp. (KECC) Yooshin, Cheil Kenya Limited and Bomi Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd  a demonstration of  the robust trade relations between Kenya and Korea.  

This year saw Kenya co-hosting 2 key summits with Korea and other countries; On 20 March 2024, Kenya co-chaired Third Summit for Democracy that was held in Seoul and on  9th to 10th September 2024 ,Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (REAIM) Summit, which was also  held in Seoul.

On the multi-lateral level, both countries continue their close cooperation and participation in international organizations and forums such as United Nations, Indian Ocean Rim Association among others. Kenya and Korea are host countries for Intergovernmental Negotiations Committee (INC).  Kenya hosted INC 3 in 2023 and Korea has just hosted INC 5 in Busan that ended on the 1st Dec 2024 demonstrating our shared commitment to environmental conservation. 

We invite you to visit “Magical Kenya” which known for being one of the best wildlife destinations,  home of the wildebeest migration and  a  spectacular coastline. Kenyan Coffee, which is  globally acclaimed is well loved and enjoyed in Korea, We invite you to  experience Kenya through the coffee origin trip that will be curated to your taste. We also look forward to seeing the business community in Nairobi for the World Chamber Federation (WCF ) Africa scheduled for 9th -11 April 2025.