Even during the Scramble for Africa, or the Race for Africa when the world's second-largest continent had been carved up among various European powers, there were two independent exceptions, one of which was Ethiopia. After having greedily coveted this sovereign and uncolonized nation, Italy (a relative newcomer to the colonial scramble for Africa) finally waged a war against Ethiopia in 1896. However, Italy was completely defeated by Ethiopia in Adwa owing to its strategic mistakes. The fact that well-trained, well-organized white soldiers can be crushed by a hodgepodge of poorly-trained, ill-equipped black soldiers shocked not only Italy but also other European powers. Ethiopia definitely boasts rich history and traditions that Ethiopians conceitedly take pride in.
When the Korean War broke out in 1950, Haile Selassie (Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974) dispatched over 6,000 troops including his own bodyguards. In 2011, Korean President Lee Myung-bak paid a visit to Addis Ababa (the capital city of Ethiopia) and expressed his special thanks for Ethiopia’s sacrifice during the Korean War. On August 20, 2012, Meles Zenawi (Ethiopian Prime Minister who came to power in 1991 after toppling the bloody dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam) died aged 57. Addis Ababa is Africa’s strategic key point, which is currently the headquarters of the African Union, the Pan African Chamber of Commerce, UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Standby.
In 2004, Korea’s Myung Sung Presbyterian Church (the largest Presbyterian church in the world) opened its affiliated hospital named MCM (Myungsung Christian Medical Center) in Addis Ababa. The MCM, the first hospital that set up an emergency room in Ethiopia, has continued to adopt cutting-edge medical equipment such as computed tomography (CT scan) With its reputation growing rapidly, major social, political dignitaries including the Ethiopian president have been treated there. Yet, the MCM took a step further: it established a medical school and accepted admission applications. The MCM, which was built at the request of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in 1998, is regarded as the most successful tie-up between Korea and Ethiopia.
In October of 2011, Jang-Gyu Lee, who completed his tenure as a professor at Seoul National University, went to Ethiopia to assume the top position of President of Adama Science and Technology University. President Lee succeeded in persuading government officials to build a R&D park in the hope of creating Ethiopia’s Silicon Valley. The Ethiopian government that aspires to develop industrial technologies drastically invested as much as KRW 7 billion in the project. In addition, in collaboration with POSTECH and POSCO, Adama Science and Technology University created a material engineering department. Impressed by such remarkable achievements, the University now looks to fill the positions of one vice president and three deans with Koreans. Besides, President Lee is now tasked with the important undertaking of thrashing out Ethiopia’s mid- and long-term national development plan. In May, 2012, Hong-Lee Park, who was a professor of physics at Yonsei University, was appointed as Dean of the University’s college of natural sciences.
Now, there is an urgent need for more infrastructures such as roads, railways, communications and electricity in Ethiopia. When we gave lectures at University of Addis Ababa, electricity went out several times. Industrial roads that link Adama to Addis Ababa were in much poorer condition than Korea’s national roads. On top of that, we were sometimes unable to access the Internet at the hotel almost all day long. Since Ethiopia is a land-locked state, top priority should be given to building railroads that run through Djibouti (a country bordered by Ethiopia in the west). Ethiopia, which already has allowed China to participate in its railroad projects, has requested President Lee to create a railroad-related curriculum at Adama Science and Technology University, so he is currently looking for Korean railway experts.
Ethiopia, armed with a huge 90 million-strong domestic market, is considered as one of Africa’s pillars. In addition, this nation is eager to learn from Korea which was once one of the poorest nations in the world, but leapfrogged into the ranks of developed nation in just five decades. In that sense, Ethiopia imported the New Community Movement or Saemaul Movement from Korea. Korea and Ethiopia also share the view that the two nations have formed a blood alliance. These two resource-poor nations are also keen on nurturing human talent. Ethiopia has 31 national universities, nine of which were newly created last year. Korean companies engaged in construction, garments, wigs, medicine, etc. have already made their presence in Ethiopia. Samsung Electronics said it would set up a human resource training center, similar to Samsung Electronics Engineering Academy in Boxburg (South Africa), in Addis Ababa and actually conducted feasibility studies on the building of home appliance and assembly production lines in Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia is emerging as the land of opportunity for everyone. Furthermore, Ethiopians were very friendly to Korea: they watched KBS satellite TV broadcasts with English subtitles and knew a lot about late former President Park Chung-hee. As such, Ethiopia pins a high hope on collaboration with Korea. Therefore, Korea needs to join forces with this friendly nation by sending experts packed with ample experiences and technologies. Though Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) are already doing business in Ethiopia, the scope of cooperation needs to be expanded. Things that look almost useless in Korea are badly needed by Ethiopia at the moment. After my visit to Ethiopia, I realized that college lecturers needed to be reeducated as soon as possible, so I invited some lecturers and helped them take PhD programs in Korea. Also, I taught them technologies designed to protect information and introduced them to the state-of-the-art technologies that are being developed under the auspices of the Seoul metropolitan government. I believe that Korea’s transfer of technology and knowledge and investment for the betterment of this burgeoning African nation will eventually work to Korea’s benefit.
