President Moon Jae-in held a ceremony to accept letters of credence from new ambassadors to Korea at the main building of Cheong Wa Dae from 3:00 to 4:30 this afternoon. Presenting the credentials to President Moon were ambassadors from five countries: Kylychbek Sultan of Kyrgyzstan; Mamadou Gueye Faye of Senegal; Hazem Fahmy of Egypt; Abida Islam of Bangladesh; and Ersin Ercin of Turkey. 

President Moon welcomed Kyrgyz Ambassador Kylychbek Sultan by offering congratulations on the inauguration of President Jeenbekov. He also expressed the hope that Kyrgyzstan would become a crucial partner with Korea for cooperation in the New Northern Policy of the Korean Government. In addition, President Moon mentioned the Project for the Election Management Capacity Building of the Kyrgyz Republic, which is being carried out by his government agency, saying he was pleased that the Project seemed to contribute to the advancement of democracy in the country. In response, the Kyrgyz Ambassador said he looked forward to enhanced exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. He went on to say he was deeply impressed by Koreans’ respect for order and freedom and wanted to emulate their example.

President Moon asked Senegalese Ambassador to Korea Mamadou Gueye Faye to extend his greetings to President Macky Sall, whom he met on the occasion of the U.N. General Assembly last year. The President went on to express the hope that cooperation with Senegal would continue in the areas of the economy, development and the defense industry. In reply, the Senegalese Ambassador said Korea had brought good luck to his country, adding that Senegal had won its first Olympic gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and that it had defeated a soccer powerhouse France in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan. Saying that it was regrettable that Senegal is not a winter sports powerhouse, the Ambassador said that his country could still make some contributions to the upcoming Games through his country`s IOC member and wished the PyeongChang Olympics great success. 

The President called for Egyptian Ambassador to Korea Hazem Fahmy to continue to take an interest in and work together for ensuring that investments by Korean businesses operating in Egypt lead to further expanding mutually beneficial economic cooperation between the two countries. The Egyptian Ambassador replied by noting that his country was currently working out economic development plans by pushing for the conclusion of FTAs with Africa, the Middle East and the European Union. He expressed the hope that Korea would regard Egypt as an economic hub in the region. 

President Moon told Bangladeshi Ambassador to Korea Abida Islam that he expected that Bangladesh would be an important partner for the Korean Government’s New Southern Policy, which the country was pursuing in a bid to expand substantive cooperation with South Asian and Southeast Asian countries. The President also gave high marks to the fact that Bangladeshi workers in Korea had contributed to the economic development of both countries. In response, the Bangladeshi Ambassador said the Republic of Korea was very special for his country. Noting that bilateral trade and people-to-people exchanges continued to increase, the Ambassador expressed the hope that close cooperative relations between the two countries would be further advanced in the international community going forward. 

President Moon told Turkish Ambassador to Korea Erisin Ercin that Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim’s visit to Korea last year was very successful and stressed that Turkey was a brother country that helped Korea during the Korean War. The President went on to say that the construction of the world’s longest suspension bridge, Canakkale Bridge, in which companies from the two countries were involved, would become a new milestone symbolizing substantive bilateral cooperation. He went on to express the hope that successful cases in major infrastructure projects would be continued going forward. In response, the Turkish Ambassador expressed the hope that Korea would be able to participate in key infrastructure projects in the years to come as bilateral trade was growing. Expressing his strong support for the beginning of inter-Korean talks recently, the Ambassador said he hoped that peace talks and exchanges would be continued between the two Koreas in the months to come.