SEEDS of COEXISTENCE: The Spirit of Bandung and the Elements of Korea-Africa Cooperation

Paper Abstract: Africa's encounter with the rest of the world has been marked more by oppressive colonisation and exploitation than by equality and mutual benefit. In 1955, representatives from 29 independent African and Asian countries, eager to actively improve the conditions of the times, gathered at the Bandung Conference to adopt the Joint Communiqué, which stated that colonial policies should be abolished in all forms. They also unanimously adopted the "Declaration on the Promotion of World Peace and International Cooperation" (Bandung Ten Principles), establishing the so-called "Bandung Spirit" of neutralism and cooperation.

However, China's Belt and Road policy has expanded to include Africa and conceptualised as the "Global South", which includes Southeast Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. As the Global South has expanded into a supra-regional political practice of integrating each national interests, the meaning of win-win has been called into question. Many African countries are still struggling to create the possibility of liberation from the remnants of neo-colonial and neoliberal exploitation. There is a strong desire to create democratic and developmental projects on local and cultural foundations.

In this paper, I will reflect on the meaning of co-operation and win-win in Africa and Asia by recalling the spirit of Bandung at this inflection point in history. Using a few individual examples of Korean individuals and social movements that have worked to create the seeds of coexistence, I will examine what constitutes cooperation in the spirit of the times.