The Export-Import Bank of Korea (www.koreaexim.go.kr, Chairman Yong Hwan Kim, “ Korea Eximbank”) announced on October 15 that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) with Korean Broadcasting System(KBS) and the government of South Sudan at the KBS International Conference Hall to strengthen cooperation for cultural exchanges between Korea and South Sudan.

The event was held concurrently with the ‘2012 Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation(KOAFEC) Ministerial Conference’, in order to honor the late Father Tae Seok Lee*’s noble spirit of altruism and to promote cultural exchanges between Korea and South Sudan.

The signing ceremony was also notable for the presence of the teenage brass band from the South Sudanese village of Tonj, which the late Father Tae Seok Lee devoted much effort to put together, believing music could heal the wounds of war and poverty inflicted on the country.

* Tae Seok Lee was a Catholic priest who was ordained after graduating medical school and subsequently devoted his life to founding a school and a hospital in the village Tonj, South Sudan. He passed away of cancer in 2010.

Under the MOU, Korea Eximbank and KBS will be providing cultural contents including Korean TV dramas to South Sudan, paving the way for the Korean Wave to hit the African continent.

Chairman Yong Hwan Kim of Korea Eximbank remarked, “We hope that cultural exchanges and cooperation in connection with the Smile Tonj project will help Father Lee and Korea’s spirit of giving resonate all over the world.”

The South Sudanese Minister of Information Barnaba Marial Benjamin responded, “The provision of Korean Wave cultural contents, in addition to healthcare infrastructure for our people who have suffered from a long civil war, will serve to further cement the friendship between our two countries.”

Later on the same day, Korea Eximbank, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the African Development Bank jointly hosted the ‘2012 Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Conference’ at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul.

The conference, scheduled to be held for 4 days from October 18, was attended by 41 finance ministers and vice-ministers of 39 African countries such as Ghana and Sudan, and representatives from 3 international organizations including the African Development Bank, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the World Bank.

The KOAFEC conference, now convening for the fourth time, is a biennial meeting launched in 2006 to discuss economic cooperation between Korea and Africa.

Participants this year will not only discuss ways to deepen economic cooperation between Korea and Africa but also strategies to achieve ‘Inclusive Growth’, a hot international topic and the theme of this year’s conference.

Korea Eximbank has extended a total of USD 1.5 billion in EDCF loans to Africa.

Aside from EDCF loans, the bank has provided about USD 5 billion in export financing and foreign investment financing during the past 5 years for Korean companies expanding into Africa.