ID :
193456
Thu, 07/07/2011 - 11:24
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https://oananews.org//node/193456
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Lee heads to Congo after delivering 2018 Winter Games to PyeongChang
DURBAN, South Africa, July 7 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak left South Africa for the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday after successfully accomplishing his mission to help deliver the 2018 Winter Olympics to the South Korean alpine city of PyeongChang.
PyeongChang won a resounding victory over rivals Germany's Munich and France's Annecy in an International Olympic Committee vote on Wednesday. It was the third time that PyeongChang had bid for the Winter Olympics after losing narrowly in two previous attempts.
Lee flew to this South African port city of Durban to make last-minute pitches for PyeongChang.
On Wednesday, Lee made a passionate speech during PyeongChang's final presentation before IOC members just a few hours before the voting, pledging to provide unconditional government support for PyeongChang's hosting of the Games.
On Thursday, Lee headed to Congo, the second stop in his three-nation African trip that will later take him to Ethiopia. Lee is the first South Korean president to visit Congo since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1963.
In Kinshasa, Lee is scheduled to meet with President Joseph Kabila later in the day for summit talks expected to focus on ways to develop rich natural resources and build social infrastructure in the African nation, officials said.
In recent years, South Korea has sought to strengthen ties with African countries, seeing the resources-rich continent as what officials called a "fresh engine" for South Korea's economic growth.
PyeongChang won a resounding victory over rivals Germany's Munich and France's Annecy in an International Olympic Committee vote on Wednesday. It was the third time that PyeongChang had bid for the Winter Olympics after losing narrowly in two previous attempts.
Lee flew to this South African port city of Durban to make last-minute pitches for PyeongChang.
On Wednesday, Lee made a passionate speech during PyeongChang's final presentation before IOC members just a few hours before the voting, pledging to provide unconditional government support for PyeongChang's hosting of the Games.
On Thursday, Lee headed to Congo, the second stop in his three-nation African trip that will later take him to Ethiopia. Lee is the first South Korean president to visit Congo since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1963.
In Kinshasa, Lee is scheduled to meet with President Joseph Kabila later in the day for summit talks expected to focus on ways to develop rich natural resources and build social infrastructure in the African nation, officials said.
In recent years, South Korea has sought to strengthen ties with African countries, seeing the resources-rich continent as what officials called a "fresh engine" for South Korea's economic growth.
