Korea, African nations to hold 1st talks on critical minerals next week

Korea and African countries will hold their inaugural talks in South Africa next week to enhance cooperation in critical minerals, following up on the agreement reached at last year's summit, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday.

The dialogue will take place in Cape Town on Tuesday (local time), led by Second Vice Foreign Minister Kang In-sun and government representatives of the participating African nations, the ministry said in a release.

The talks will be held on the occasion of the Mining Indaba, a major mining investment event in Africa, slated for Feb. 3-6, it said.

Discussions will focus on efforts to facilitate the development of critical minerals sectors and promote cooperation, as well as on ways to expand knowledge-sharing in related fields.

"The meeting is expected to serve as an opportunity to explore ways to expand cooperation on critical minerals between Korea and African countries, together with African government representatives responsible for critical minerals policies," the ministry said.

Korea and 48 African countries agreed to launch the dialogue platform during their first-ever summit hosted by Seoul in June last year. (Yonhap)