Africa is a "young" continent, with about 70 percent of its population aged 30 or younger.

This suggests youth cooperation is essential for any country that wants to get close with Africa in the long term.

Accordingly, Korea took a step closer with the inaugural Korea-Africa Youth Camp which was held from Aug. 6 to 12 in Seoul and North Jeolla Province's Gimje and Muju.

Forty teenage students from each Korea and 12 African countries participated in the weeklong event co-hosted by The Korea-Africa Foundation (KAF) and Jeollabuk-do Center for International Affairs.

The 12 were Angola, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

The 2019 Korea-Africa Youth Camp took place as the African Union (AU), a group of 55 African countries aimed at regional solidarity, is striving to transform the continent into a global powerhouse by 2063 under the Agenda 2063 initiative.

The camp activities were designed to acquaint participants with each other's cultures and histories, facilitate mutual understanding and nurture future-oriented mindsets as well as entrepreneurship in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.