SEOUL– The top diplomats of South Korea and Austria expressed hope for the expansion of cooperation between the two sides as they had talks here Sunday.

Speaking at the outset of the meeting with his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Schallenberg, Foreign Minister Park Jin said his government would like to further strengthen the bilateral “strategic partnership” forged in 2021.

In that sense, Park said, Schallenberg’s visit to Seoul is “very timely” as a “very important opportunity” for the development of the ties.

He added that the two countries are close friends and partners for cooperation, marking the 130th anniversary this year of forging diplomatic relations.

The Austrian minister pointed out the two nations have much in common in terms of open society and trade.

Source: Yonhap News Agency