Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
Koreans' perceptions of Africa improving
African performers take part in The-K Parade near Jonggak Station in central Seoul, Saturday. According to a survey by the Korea-Africa Foundation, 68.9 percent of Koreans think positively of future Korea-Africa relations. Yonhap
By Kwon Mee-yoo
By Kwon Mee-yoo
The majority of Koreans think positively of the future direction of relations between Korea and Africa, a survey showed.
The Korea-Africa Foundation (KAF) announced the results of its biennial survey on Koreans' perceptions of Africa, Oct. 6.
The KAF is an affiliate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tasked to research and promote cooperation with African countries.
According to the findings, more than two-thirds, or 68.9 percent, of Koreans assessed future Korea-Africa relations positively.
Compared to two years ago, more Koreans consider Africa as a partner for economic cooperation with high potential. The potential of the African continent as seen by the Korean public has jumped to 84.4 percent from 72.5 percent in 2020. Meanwhile, 67.7 percent of Koreans regarded Africa as a partner for economic cooperation, which showed a significant increase from 47.4 percent two years back.
Among the African countries with Korean embassies, 55.4 percent of Koreans considered South Africa the most familiar, followed by Egypt (46.9 percent), Ghana (38.5 percent), Kenya (26.4 percent), Morocco (22.9 percent) and Nigeria (21.6 percent).
When asked about the tasks for the Korean government to promote exchanges with African countries, 25.8 percent answered supporting private Korean companies entering the African market as the top priority, followed by raising public awareness of Africa in Korea (24 percent), increasing the amount of official development assistance (ODA) (20.4 percent) and training experts on Africa in Korea (15.4 percent).
The survey results also showed that the KAF should enhance its role in bridging Korean companies and organizations with African countries (40.8 percent), which lined up with people taking the most interest in investment briefings on Africa (14 percent) and the exhibition of products by small and medium-sized Korean businesses in Africa (9.3 percent).
Koreans also asked the foundation to increase assistance in public sector exchanges to promote partnerships with African countries (26 percent), education on Africa to enhance mutual understanding (19.7 percent) and research and analysis on Africa by country, region and field (13.2 percent).
The foundation said it will use the survey results to boost exchanges between Korea and Africa, such as supporting Korean companies in Africa and exchanges in the public sector, as well as to host forums and seminars on Korea-Africa relations.
The survey was conducted from July 13 to 22.