Sabah has always been a favourite holiday destination for Koreans since the late 1990s and recently, its investment potential has drawn the interest of businessmen from the republic.

It is estimated that currently, there are more than 600 Koreans living, working and studying in Sabah, mostly in Kota Kinabalu.

“Before the Covid-19 pandemic, almost 400,000 Korean people visited Sabah. This figure ranked as the second highest among foreign tourist arrivals. This year, Korea is on the top, with more than 80,000 tourists from January to May.

“Currently, over 30 flights operate each week connecting Korea to Kota Kinabalu, with expectations of further growth in the future,” said its Ambassador to Malaysia, Yeo Seung-bae.

Speaking to The Borneo Post and Utusan Borneo here recently, Yeo said Korea and Sabah have been constantly developing a friendly relationship through active people-to-people exchanges and recently, the state emerged as a promising economic cooperation partner to Korean business people and companies.

This, Yeo said, happened as a result of Korean company SK Nexilis’ decision to invest RM4.2 billion in Sabah 2021.

“I just came from the factory and was informed that they completed the first phase and started operation in May this year. Next year, they will start commercial production of copper foils,” said Yeo, who mentioned that there are about 10 Korean companies operating in Kota Kinabalu.

“I expect that when SK Nexilis is fully operational, more Korean companies will consider Sabah as their future investment destination. In terms of economic cooperation between Korea and Sabah, SK Nexilis’ investment and operation will serve as a turning point to upgrade and expand the scope of cooperation between Korea and the state beyond tourism into industrial cooperation.

“It will also help Sabah become the hub of high-tech industry or green energy industry,” he said, adding that this is mutually beneficial development for Korea and Sabah as the republic has companies that have the expertise in the industries while the state has the resources as well as a strategic geographic location.

Yeo who was on his first official working visit to Sabah, said accompanying him this time were representatives of Korean businesses based in Kuala Lumpur, Korean public agencies and KOTRA, which is Korea’s equivalent to MIDA or MATRADE in Malaysia.

“Through this round table I want to give opportunities for Korean entrepreneurs to have better understanding about the Sabah state government’s development plans, priorities, potential cooperation opportunities and give the state government the opportunity to understand the expectation of Korean businessmen.

“I hope through the materialization of SK Nexilis’ investment in Sabah, the State Government could get some ideas on how to make Sabah more attractive to foreign investors and what can be done more to achieve that goal,” he said.

Yeo disclosed that when SK Nexilis made the decision to invest in Sabah in 2012, many Korean businessmen wondered why they chose Sabah over the other states in Malaysia.

“I think the number one reason is the strong commitment and determination and also FDI friendly policies of the state government and the Sabah Maju Jaya spirit. Second, Sabah has abundant natural resources such as timber, oil and gas and now even solar.

“Also Sabah has an advantage in terms of geographic location which allows easy access to various parts of the world. These two factors are important to attract more foreign investors including Koreans investors,” he stressed.

Yeo who paid a courtesy call on Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor during his visit, said several issues were discussed during the meeting including bilateral trade investments between Sabah and Korea,
“He is very enthusiastic in further developing our industrial and economic cooperation particularly for the successful operation of SK Nexilis. I found very broad consensus in terms of promoting the relationship between Sabah and Korea in people to people exchange, meaning tourism, and also economic and trade partnership.

“I emphasised to the Chief Minister that to make Sabah more attractive to foreign investors, the best way is to help SK Nexilis be successful because the operational success and final completion of construction is very important.

“Datuk Seri Hajiji is doing what he can to ensure that this happens and the meeting was a very productive one,” Yeo said.

The ambassador believes that there is future cooperation and investment potential in the green energy sector as Korea has many good companies which have world class technology and know-how in green energy.

“We also have K Water, a company that is good in water management and they are now looking for an opportunity to cooperate with Sabah in mini hydro or floating solar. There are other Korean public companies interested in the green energy sector such as solar and biomass,” he said and reiterated that there are potential areas of cooperation in the future for Sabah and Korea.

Yeo who took up office as ambassador in October last year, said he and his wife have fallen in love with the beautiful country including Sabah, as the people are kind and the food is delicious.

“This is why many Koreans choose to visit Sabah and Malaysia. Now half of the number of Koreans visiting Malaysia choose to come to Sabah because it is well known in terms of the beautiful scenery and unique culture and delicious food.

“Korean tourists understand well this is the best place for family healing trips and it is also a golfer’s paradise particularly during our winter. Also, it is one of the best sunset spots in the world,” he added.

Nasi lemak, he said, is one of his favorite Malaysian foods as both he and his wife love the sambal that is part of the condiments the dish is served with.

Koreans are famous for loving spicy food and this is some of the similarities in food with Malaysia, he said.

“As the ambassador for Korea I hope and I believe the popularity of Sabah will continue,” he said.

During his visit here, Yeo also attended the opening of the Consulate of Korea office located at Plaza Shell.

In his speech at the event Yeo said, “I am convinced that the opening of the Consulate of Korea in Kota Kinabalu will add new impetus to more economic cooperation as well as people to people and cultural exchanges between Korea and Sabah, and Malaysia. I sincerely hope and expect that the Consulate will function as an outpost, helping to pave the way for further progress in Korea’s and Sabah’s relations in the future.

“I would like to request the Sabah government to offer continued support and assistance to the Korean people and companies in Sabah. I also want to ask all Korean people here to play the role of a civilian diplomat and contribute to the development of Sabah as a respectable member of the community,” Yeo said.

He agreed that there is a huge K-drama and K-pop fan base in Malaysia and in view of this, from last year, the Korean language was adapted as a second foreign language in some secondary schools.

Now, 26 secondary schools around the nation teach Korean language as a foreign language, Yeo disclosed, adding that he had met with the Education Minister and among matters discussed was on a collaboration to promote Korean language education in Malaysia particularly on how to train and educate Malaysian Korean language teachers.