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Tiny African country big hit in Seoul

Published: 14 Oct. 2009, 05:41

President James Michel of the Republic of Seychelles arrived in Korea yesterday for a three-day visit accompanied by a modest delegation of seven. [YONHAP]

Seychelles, the tiny archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean, is the smallest country in Africa by land mass. In fact, Seychelles, made up of 155 islands, is so small that it’s only about a quarter of Korea’s Jeju Island in terms of total area. Seychelles is only about 2.5 times larger than Washington, D.C. The United Nations estimates Seychelles’ population at 84,000 - you can put all of them in Wembley Stadium and still have room for hooligans.

But in the hearts of Korean government officials, Seychelles is plenty big. President James Michel of the Seychelles arrived in Korea yesterday for a three-day visit accompanied by a modest delegation of seven. Seychelles’ capital Victoria is scheduled to establish official ties with Daejeon, south of Seoul, and Michel is set to receive honorary citizenship from the city. Korea and the Seychelles established diplomatic ties in 1976 but Michel’s visit is the first by a president of Seychelles to Korea.

A Korean businessman in Daejeon developed a friendship with Patrick Pillay, the Seychelles’ foreign minister, who was invited to Korea by the Yeosu Expo bidding committee in 2007. Later that year, when the southern Korean city of Yeosu, South Jeolla, was bidding to host the 2012 World Expo, the Seychelles cast a vote in Yeosu’s way and reportedly nudged other African nations to vote in favor of the Korean town, too. “When throwing a vote in the international community, it doesn’t matter if it’s China with their one billion people or the Seychelles - it still counts as a single vote,” said an official at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, adding that Michel’s visit will serve as an opportunity for the two countries to strengthen ties and expand cooperation. And don’t let size fool you. The International Monetary Fund estimates Seychelles’ gross domestic product per capita in 2008 at $9,640, the highest in Africa. Seychelles’ economy is largely built on tourism, along with fishing and farming.

By Yoo Jee-ho [[email protected]]