Senior Officials’ Meeting reviews cooperation progress and explores ways to strengthen ties
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on November 5 that Korea hosted the Korea-Africa Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) at Lotte Hotel Seoul on November 4. The meeting served as a follow-up to the Korea-Africa Summit, aimed at reviewing progress in cooperation and discussing ways to deepen sectoral partnerships.
Delegations from 47 African nations, including 20 home-based representatives such as the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Senegal, participated in the meeting. On the Korean side, officials from 15 government ministries and agencies—including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy—joined the discussions. The session was co-chaired by Chung Eui-hae, Deputy Minister for Political Affairs at Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Sianga Kivuila Samuel Abilio, Ambassador of Angola to Korea, representing the African Union (AU) chair country for this year.
In her opening remarks, Deputy Minister Chung highlighted key achievements since last year’s Korea-Africa Summit, including the launch of the Korea-Africa Critical Minerals Dialogue (February), Korea’s accession as an observer to the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) (April), and the establishment of the Korea-AfCFTA Cooperation Fund (May). She emphasized that “amid rapid global changes, Korea will continue to strengthen practical and mutually beneficial partnerships with Africa as part of its diplomatic diversification efforts.”
Ambassador Abilio commended Korea’s “dedicated communication and contribution toward advancing Korea-Africa cooperation” and pledged that Angola, as the AU chair, would “actively support efforts to further expand these achievements.”
During the meeting, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to shared growth, sustainability, and solidarity as guiding principles of cooperation. They reviewed ongoing projects and discussed practical measures to deepen engagement. To ensure continuity and momentum, the two sides agreed to convene the Korea-Africa Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Seoul in June 2026.