By Diplomacy Journal Kayla Lee

Seoul City Mayor Oh Se-hoon met with Israeli Ambassador to Korea Rafael Harpaz in his office at Seoul City Hall to discuss cooperation measures between major cities of the two countries on Feb. 3, 2025.

Ambassador Rafael Harpaz, who took office in October of last year, is a diplomacy expert who served as Ambassador to Azerbaijan and the Philippines and Director General of the Asia-Pacific Affairs Bureau of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mayor Oh said, “Seoul and Tel Aviv, which are friendly cities, are not only the centers of the two countries in terms of economy, culture, and industry, but also have many areas of cooperation in the future, such as advanced industries and security.”

Oh continued to say, “I hope that the Mayor of Tel Aviv will attend the ‘Smart Life Week 2025’ to be held in Seoul this fall, and that this will be an opportunity to further strengthen and actively connect exchanges between the two countries and cities.”

Seoul and Tel Aviv signed a friendly exchange agreement in 2019 for cooperation in ▲ startup sector partnership ▲ culture and tourism ▲ transportation ▲ smart city, etc.

He also said, “Despite the recent turmoil in Korean politics, ‘Seoul’ has been recognized as a safe and pleasant tourist city in name and reality by being ranked first in the world’s largest travel platform ‘Tripadvisor’ as a city good for solo travel,” and added, “I hope that Israel will also widely share the fact that Seoul is still a safe city to travel to and a city full of fun all year round.”

Last month, Seoul was selected as the number one ‘city good for solo travel’ by Tripadvisor in 2025 for ▲ tourist attractions where you can feel the charm of the past and present at the same time ▲ convenient and safe 24-hour public transportation infrastructure.