S. Korean President’s Visit to Bolster Tehran-Seoul Ties: Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A senior South Korean official said a visit by the country’s president to Iran is aimed at exploring avenues for promotion of bilateral relations between the two nations.
“We expect the trip to serve as an occasion to take a new leap forward in bilateral ties, which have been stalled due to the international sanctions,” said Kim Kyou-hyun, a senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs, as quoted by Yonhap news agency on Sunday.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye will arrive in the Iranian capital of Tehran later today.
Park left Seoul for Tehran on Sunday morning on a historic trip meant to boost political and economic relations between the two countries.
She is set to meet with her Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, on Monday in the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations in 1962.
South Korea is seeking to expand cooperation with Iran in economic areas as well as in health care, culture, and information and communication technology.
The visit will come against the backdrop of a new wave of interest in ties with Iran after Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) reached a nuclear agreement on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16.
The comprehensive nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), terminated all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran.
