The Korea-Africa Foundation held "Korea-South Africa Insight Forum" with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa in Korea at the Diplomatic Center (Seocho-gu, Seoul) on Sept. 17.

The forum was attended by officials from domestic companies and related organizations, including Kim Young-chae, the President of the Korea-Africa Foundation, Sindiswa Mququ, the Ambassador of South Africa to Korea, Kim Jong-chul, the Director General of the International Trade Relations Bureau at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Kam Woon-an, the Vice-president of the Korea-Africa Foundation. In the main session, △ Timothy Dickens, the chairman of the South African Chamber of Commerce in Korea, and △ Lee Jong-woo, the team leader of Hyosung Heavy Industries, presented the opportunities for the South African market and the possibility of cooperation by Korean companies. In the discussion that followed, △Seo Sang-hyun, the senior principal researcher at POSCO Research Institute (POSRI), △ Kang Mun-su, the research fellow at KIEP, and △ Yoon Sung-hyuk, the advisor to DR&AJU LLC, participated in the in-depth discussion to discuss various cooperation measures, including the use of manufacturing, supply chains, energy, critical minerals, and AfCFTA.

South Africa, the largest economy in Africa and a key emerging market in the Global South, is actively promoting infrastructure modernization and clean energy supply for stable power supply and energy conversion, and is also attracting attention as a key mineral producer such as platinum, manganese, and chromium. The forum sought to find a point of contact between South Africa's strategy and Korea's strengths, and the Korea-Africa Foundation plans to expand cooperation between two countries and further strengthen the ground for Korea-Africa economic exchanges.