President Lee Jae-myung, on an official visit to Egypt, said on the 20th (local time) about the outcome of his summit with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi that "Korea and Egypt, as 'peace promoters,' agreed to contribute together to international peace, including on the Korean Peninsula and in the Middle East."
After holding a 111-minute summit with el-Sissi at the Egyptian presidential palace that day, President Lee stated accordingly through a joint press announcement.
President Lee said, "At the talks, there was an in-depth discussion on the recent situations on the Korean Peninsula and in the Middle East," and noted, "President el-Sissi highly evaluated and expressed full support for the Korean government's efforts to open a new era of peaceful coexistence and shared growth on the Korean Peninsula."
He continued, "I also highly evaluated that Egypt is working for a Gaza cease-fire and reconstruction, and further, for Middle East peace, and conveyed that the Korean government would continue to cooperate with Egypt to resolve the humanitarian crisis facing Gaza refugees," and said, "The two countries agreed to stand in solidarity for international peace while supporting each other's roles."
On the economy, he said, "Egypt is a key hub connecting Africa, the Middle East and Europe, and the Republic of Korea has successful development experience and many global corporations," and added, "In this respect, we shared the view that the potential for economic cooperation between the two countries is great."
The two leaders also signed a "joint declaration to pursue a Korea-Egypt Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)" that day. On this, President Lee said, "I hope CEPA negotiations, an institutional foundation to support broad economic cooperation, will begin as soon as possible."
There was also discussion on defense industry cooperation. In the talks, President Lee explained there was a remark that "we hope the two countries' defense cooperation, represented by joint production of the K-9 self-propelled howitzer, will expand to include the FA-50 advanced trainer and the Cheongeom anti-tank missile." In response, el-Sissi said, "We have trust in Korea's advanced defense technology, and we look forward to mutually beneficial cooperation, including joint production."
In addition, the statement also included discussions on education and culture. The two countries signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to cooperate closely not only in science education, Korean language education and vocational-technical education, but also in the digital transformation of various forms of education. In addition, through a "cultural cooperation MOU," they agreed to promote exchanges in areas such as performing arts, publishing and museums.