By Iddi Yire
Accra, March 13, GNA – President John Dramani Mahama on Friday held a bilateral meeting with Mr Woo Won-shik, the Speaker of the Korean National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea.
The meeting forms part of the President’s five-day working visit to the East Asian nation.
This is President Mahama’s fourth visit to South Korea – the first visit dates back to 2010, when he went there as Ghana’s Vice President on an official working visit, with the second being as a guest for the African Development Bank Board meeting that took place in Busan in May, 2018.
His third visit was in 2024, when he went for the Africa-South Korea summit that took place in 2024.
During the meeting President Mahama said his working visit signified the excellent relations that existed between Ghana and South Korea.
“Next year, Ghana and Korea will celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations, and I believe that our relations have been good and built on the foundation of our shared belief in democracy,” he said.
“We’re proud of our democratic traditions, especially in a sub-region where democracy is backsliding. There have been several coup d’etats recently in several West African countries, but Ghana remains the beacon of democracy,” President Mahama said.
He said the government wanted to prove as Ghanaians that democracy works” and that it was the best system of government that could create opportunities for young people to be able to realise their full potential.
President Mahama acknowledged Speaker Woo and the Korean Parliament for the role they played during the turbulent political period that South Korea went through recently.
He reiterated that Speaker Woo’s role in maintaining peace was a demonstration that the democratic institutions and mechanisms were strong and could work in periods of crisis.
President Mahama also cited his own previous three-term service in the Parliament, making him a firm believer in Parliamentary democracy.
The President explained that on the first day of his working visit, they held bilateral discussions with his South Korean counterpart President Lee Jae Myung, during which they discussed many issues of mutual interest.
He noted that one of the Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) signed between Ghana and South Korea was on a framework agreement for cooperation on the issue of climate change, while the other was on cooperation in the area of maritime safety.
President Mahama commented on, and admired South Korea’s stance as a very strong seafaring nation with great navy admirals, sharing that it was natural that Ghana, being a coastal country, also had a quite important blue economy.
“It is only natural that we should cooperate when it comes to maritime safety,” he said.
President Mahama said the third MoU signedswas on digital innovation; stating that South Korea had a comparative advantage and a very strong background when it comes to digitalization, artificial intelligence, and innovation.
He said it was a very important MoU for them, because they believed that it could improve knowledge sharing among the two countries in the area of digitalisation.
President Mahama said they believe that the MoUs signed, in addition to the other bilateral engagements, would bring Ghana and Korea closer together.
Speaker Woo Won-shik, commended Ghana for being a beacon of democracy in Africa and maintaining a very peaceful transfer of power over the years, which meant that it was a highly democratic nation.
“I understand that in 2022 Ghana defaulted on its external debt and implemented an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, which brought difficult challenges,” Speaker Woo said.
“However, after you assumed office, you have managed to stabilise the economy by bringing inflation down significantly and working to stabilise the currency,” he said.
Speaker Woo praised President Mahama’s for his inspiring leadership, saying South Korea experienced a similar challenge during the Asian Financial Crisis, when they also had to implement an IMF programme.
GNA
Edited by Christabel Addo
