Seoul: Senior executives of global investment and asset management firms have expressed hope for stronger partnerships with South Korea, Seoul's finance ministry said Wednesday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, their comments came during separate bilateral meetings with Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, held in New York on Tuesday (local time). The executives included those from BlackRock, Apollo Global Management, and PIMCO.

Marc Rowan, chief executive officer of Apollo, noted that South Korea's capital market is gaining global prominence, and the influence of Korean institutional investors is also expanding. He emphasized his interest in further strengthening strategic cooperation and long-term partnerships with South Korea.

In a separate meeting, Rob Goldstein, chief operating officer of BlackRock, remarked on South Korea's foreign exchange and capital market reforms, which are progressing swiftly. He highlighted the potential of these changes to improve global investor access and mentioned that BlackRock is actively contributing to the South Korean market through ongoing investment in client assets and expanded partnerships with institutional investors.

These meetings were part of Finance Minister Koo's trip to the United States, which includes visits to Washington, D.C., for meetings of Group of 20 finance ministers and the annual gatherings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.