President William Ruto flew to South Korea on Sunday evening, marking a return tour following an earlier State Visit in November 2022 at the invite of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
He announced his trip during an interdenominational church service in Kimilili, Bungoma, assuring the Kenyan public that this trip, coming shortly after his recent visit to the U.S., was necessary.
Ruto emphasized his commitment to prioritizing official duties over leisure travel, stating that his trip focuses on work, allaying public concerns about his frequent travels.
President Ruto explained that his official visit to South Korea aims to finalize and sign various agreements initiated during his November tour.
Ruto stated that he would witness the signing of three multibillion-shilling deals that would benefit the country.
“Today, I will be jetting to Korea for three issues. When I was there last year, we made some agreements, and now I am going to secure that money,” he said.
These agreements include a reported Kes.40 billion deal for the creative economy and a Kes.25 billion deal for equipment to construct irrigation dams.
“I agreed with the President of South Korea that we want to collaborate with our university in Athi River and one in South Korea. They have allocated us Kes.40 billion for young people in the creative economy. I will be going to receive those funds,” he said.
He added, “You saw I visited one of the largest creative economy hubs in America, and now we want to establish ours here.”
Another major agreement pertains to labor migration between the two countries.
“When we met with the South Korean president, we initiated plans to export our youth, and now we are going to sign an agreement to that effect,” he said, revealing that the agreement would see between 5,000 and 10,000 Kenyan youth travel to South Korea under a human capital export deal.
“I had to explain so that you don’t say ‘we had an agreement with this guy and he’s just idle’. So, please allow me to go for the sake of other Kenyans,” he said.
President Ruto’s itinerary also includes participation in the Korea-Africa Summit, where he will join 48 other heads of state and government.
