(Yonhap Interview) S. Korea's growth model gives leg up in diplomacy with Global South: top Kenyan envoy

By Kim Seung-yeon

SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has an advantage in strengthening ties with the Global South, including Africa, given its steady engagement without historical baggage and an economic growth model admired by many developing countries, the top Kenyan envoy in Seoul has said.

Ambassador Emmy Jerono Kipsoi made the remarks, voicing hope that South Korea will use such strengths going forward to enhance cooperation with Africa, through private investment, development assistance projects and other partnerships. She formally began her post here in April.

"I look at Korea as starting from a point of advantage in terms of relations because it comes with a clean slate," Kipsoi said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Wednesday, meaning how there is no weight of shared past conflicts or history issues between South Korea and Africa.

"I look at one aspect in terms of using what you have best, and that is your development model. Korea has developed by encouraging the private sector to grow, " Kipsoi said.

South Korea has been pushing to deepen its relationships with African countries, and the wider Global South, an emerging grouping broadly of countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Seoul hosted its first South Korea-Africa summit in June this year, which brought together the top delegations of 48 African countries.

Such efforts are seen as a move to expand its economic footprint and diversify diplomacy with the regions, to address growing challenges, like supply chain bottlenecks, amid the intensifying rivalry between the United States and China.

South Korea, once a recipient of U.N. aid, has become a key donor country in international development assistance programs. Its rapid and successful industrialization is recognized by many African countries, with some adopting Korea's 1970s rural modernization movement, the Saemaeul Movement, into their own versions.

Kenya's major project to develop a technology hub near Nairobi, called the Konza Technopolis, is backed by South Korea's soft loan program. Within the complex, Kenya plans to establish a science and technology institute in partnership with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, which will include a vaccine research and development center.

The hub is officially set to open next year.

"(Digital technology) is part of what the Kenya-Korea bilateral relations are about. It invites all those that are related in the smart technology, even as far or as wide as the semiconductor industry," Kipsoi said.

"By allowing Korean companies to invest, build Africa, and by extension, build themselves, it's a win-win for everybody," she said.

Kipsoi cited such cooperation in digital transformation as one key factor that has kept the bilateral relations "robust and vibrant" over the past 60 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties.

"The cooperation has been consistent over time," Kipsoi said.

From a trade perspective, South Korea is also an important partner for Kenya, particularly as its fourth-largest buyer of Kenyan coffee, she noted.

"Korea, being a big consumer and lover of Kenyan coffee, it is an indicator of the vibrancy of our collaboration. We are looking forward to increasing the relationship," she said.

Regarding South Korea's botched martial law imposition, she declined to comment, calling it a "purely internal matter" for Korea. However, she referenced her own country's constitutional reform, which she said established a "good framework" for democracy to serve its people.

"I think we saw this demonstrated by the Korean people, when they took to the streets," she said.

"That tells you the level of thinking by people, that they take ownership and hold systems accountable. It's about the citizens really being aware of their positions, and that they need to exercise their democratic rights," she said.

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