Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum from March 17-21 will make official visits to Turkey and Qatar. He is shown here on March 15 speaking to a Cabinet meeting at Government Complex-Sejong. (Prime Minister’s Secretariat)
By Xu Aiying and Yoon Hee Young
Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum from March 17-21 will visit Turkey and Qatar.
The Prime Minister’s Secretariat on March 16 announced his travel schedule and said his trips will seek to expand practical cooperation in infrastructure and energy projects and discuss continued friendly relations between Korea and the two countries.
He will visit Turkey from March 17-19 as the first Korean prime minister to do in nine years.
At the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Kim will attend the opening ceremony for the Canakkale 1915 Bridge, which will mark the centennial anniversary of Turkey next year. Jointly built by Korean and Turkish companies, the structure will be the world’s longest suspension bridge stretching 3,563 m across the Dardanelles Strait.
His next destination is Qatar from March 19-20.
He will hold a series of high-level talks on improving bilateral cooperation including with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, with Seoul and Doha having an “omnidirectional cooperative partnership” as diplomatic ties. Both sides will seek to expand practical cooperation including a bilateral energy supply chain and infrastructure given heightened uncertainty over global energy supply.
The secretariat said, “Following President Moon Jae-in’s visits in January to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Prime Minister Kim’s trips to Turkey and Qatar, two countries with traditionally friendly and cooperative ties with Korea, will contribute to diversifying Korea’s diplomacy.”
xuaiy@korea.kr
