President Lee Jae-myung, on an official visit to Egypt, greets students after delivering a speech titled “A Bright Future We Open Together” at Cairo University on Nov. 20 (local time). (Yonhap)
CAIRO & SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – President Lee Jae-myung, on a state visit to Egypt, appealed Thursday for deeper cooperation between Seoul and Cairo, invoking what he described as striking historical parallels in the two nations’ struggles for peace and independence.
In a keynote address at Cairo University, Lee said that although South Korea and Egypt lie more than 8,000 kilometers apart, their histories reveal a common yearning for peace born from centuries of conflict shaped by geography. Both countries, he said, sit at crossroads of great-power rivalry — Korea between continental and maritime forces in Northeast Asia, and Egypt between Africa, the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
“Neither Koreans nor Egyptians were content to accept geopolitical destiny and settle for the peace given to them,” Lee said.
He noted that in 1919, as the post–World War I settlement unfolded, Korea’s March 1 Independence Movement and Egypt’s uprising against British rule erupted simultaneously — a moment he described as an “almost fated encounter” between the two peoples’ aspirations for self-determination.
Lee also highlighted the significance of the 1943 Cairo Declaration, issued in Egypt during World War II, which affirmed Korea’s right to independence from Japanese colonial rule.
On Nov. 20 (local time), the main auditorium at Cairo University is filled with students attending President Lee Jae-myung’s speech, delivered under the theme “A Bright Future We Open Together.” (Yonhap)
Turning to contemporary diplomacy, Lee praised Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi for his role in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas through the so-called “Gaza Peace Declaration.” Lee credited el-Sisi’s “tireless patience over two years of crisis in Gaza,” culminating in the Sharm el-Sheikh peace talks co-chaired with former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Lee said his own administration would pursue a similar path of resolve, reiterating his step-by-step plan for denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and a shift “from hostility and confrontation to peaceful coexistence and shared growth.”
He also cited former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat — who signed a historic peace treaty with Israel in 1978 and later received the Nobel Peace Prize — as an example of “courageous leadership choosing the future without fear.” Lee drew parallels to South Korea’s modern presidents, including Kim Dae-jung, who opened new paths for inter-Korean reconciliation.
“The light of civilization and peace that runs through the histories of both nations will become the nourishment that enables our common prosperity,” Lee said, urging Egypt and South Korea to build a closer partnership grounded in their shared historical experience.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
