Deputy FM to embark on four-nation Africa trip next week

SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's deputy foreign minister will embark on a
four-nation Africa tour next week to lay the groundwork for President Lee
Myung-bak's possible trip to the continent later this year, foreign ministry
officials said Thursday.
Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-joon will leave Sunday on a seven-day trip that
will take him to Ethiopia, Tanzania, Morocco and Cote d'Ivoire or the Ivory
Coast, ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun told a press briefing.
"The trip follows a four-nation Africa trip by Vice Foreign Minister Shin Kak-soo
last month and the government plans to continue strengthening its diplomacy in
Africa through an exchange of visits by ranking officials," the ministry
spokesman said.
The vice foreign minister had visited Congo, South Africa, Ghana and Kenya on a
mission earlier described by a ministry official to select possible destinations
for President Lee, who is expected to visit Africa later in the year.
A ministry official said that the deputy minister's trip includes the same purpose.
"He will check the possibility of a trip to some of the nations by President Lee,
but he will also be checking to see if there will be positive outcomes from a
visit," the official told reporters, asking not to be identified.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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