On June 4th, the "2024 Korea-Africa Summit" was held in Seoul with the participation of a total of 33 dignitaries, including 25 African heads of state. This marked the largest multilateral summit since the inauguration of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration and the first time South Korea hosted a multilateral summit targeting Africa.

Comparing recent summit attendance between major countries and Africa, the Russia-Africa Summit in 2023 saw 27 African heads of state, while the Italy-Africa Summit in 2024 had 26 attendees. The China-Africa Summit in 2018 had 50 attendees, the UK-Africa Summit in 2020 had 16, the Turkie-Africa Summit in 2021 had 16, and the US-Africa Summit in 2022 had 45. Considering these figures, the participation of 33 dignitaries in this Korea-Africa Summit appears to demonsterate the expectations and trust African nations have in South Korea. 

South Korea is enhancing cooperation with Africa rather than providing large-scale aid like China, Japan, or the USA. The recent agreement between the Korean government and 14 African countries, known as the “K-Rice Belt” cooperation, is a good example of a positive step. This cooperation aims to address food shortages in Africa, particularly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, by sharing South Korea's experience in achieving rice self-sufficiency through the development of the variety of “unification rice.” African nations have responded positively to South Korean government's sincerity, and this summit can be seen as one of its fruits.

During this summit, South Korea declared an expansion of aid to Africa and adopted the "2024 Korea-Africa Summit Joint Declaration" with representatives from 48 African countries. In this declaration, South Korea committed to expanding its Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Africa to a total of $10 billion by 2030 and providing $14 billion in export finance. South Korea also agreed to initiate dialogues on key minerals needed by South Korea and African countries. South Korea signed a total of 47 agreements and contracts with 23 African countries, resolving to further expand economic cooperation. Notably, it signed 12 memoranda of understanding (MOUs) on trade, investment, and mineral sectors with 11 countries, contributing to the promotion of trade and investment between South Korea and Africa.

Tanzania, which declared the start of Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations during this summit, is rich in key minerals such as nickel and graphite. Morocco, which agreed on the framework for EPA negotiations, has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with over 50 countries worldwide, including the USA and EU, indicating its potential as a bypass export base to the USA, EU, and the Middle East. Additionally, agreements on Trade and Investment Promotion Frameworks (TIPFs) were signed with eight countries including Ghana, Malawi, Côte d'Ivoire, and Zimbabwe, laying the groundwork for tailored economic cooperation platforms. In the private sector, contracts and MOUs were signed with 35 entities from 19 African countries.

Many experts anticipate deeper and further development of South Korea-Africa relations in the future. The "2024 Korea-Africa Summit" was an important step for South Korea and Africa in shaping their shared future and was evaluated as a meaningful meeting that brought significant achievements to both countries.