President Lee Jae-myung, on an official visit to Egypt, discussed ways to expand cooperation between the two countries with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on the 20th local time.
The two leaders began a one-on-one summit at about 11:11 a.m. They then started an expanded meeting with aides from both countries at 11:46 a.m., continuing discussions until 1:02 p.m. The time they faced each other amounted to a total of 111 minutes.
Although the details of the talks have not yet been made public, observers said the discussions likely focused on ways to expand economic and cultural cooperation between Egypt, considered one of the leading powers in the Arab world, and Korea.
Attention is on whether visible results will emerge in the defense industry as well, as Egypt is one of the major buyers of the K9 self-propelled howitzer.
In an op-ed contributed to the Egyptian state-run newspaper "Al Ahram" on the day, Lee said, "The most reliable partner for the ambitiously pursued 'Vision 2030' of Egypt is the Republic of Korea," adding that he hopes cooperation for peace in the Middle East and on the Korean Peninsula between the two countries will also expand.
After the summit, Lee is scheduled to attend an official luncheon and deliver a speech at Cairo University.