Foreign Minister Park Jin met with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Bin Jassim Al Thani in Seoul on Wednesday to discuss expanded bilateral cooperation on energy and construction.
According to Seoul’s foreign ministry, the top diplomats expressed hope for growing their countries’ cooperation on liquefied natural gas(LNG) trade to other related businesses including construction and transportation of LNG carriers. As of last year, Qatar is South Korea’s largest supplier of LNG.
The two sides saw eye to eye on the need to expand their energy cooperation to new renewable energies such as hydrogen fuel and solar power.
Park extended his wish that South Korean firms will continue to participate in construction projects in Qatar, noting that Korean companies have contributed to major building projects in the Middle Eastern country for decades. He also asked for interest and support for Qatar's energized investment in Korea.
In another notable development, the two officials signed an agreement on a reciprocal visa exemption.
As the first visa exemption agreement inked under the Yoon Suk Yeol government, the accord will take effect next month to allow travelers of the two countries to stay in each other’s country for up to 90 days without a visa.
The foreign ministry expects the agreement to help facilitate personnel exchanges between the two nations, ahead of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
The last foreign ministers’ meeting between South Korea and Qatar took place in 2018, when the Qatari minister visited Seoul.
Source: KBS World Radio