President Moon Jae-in (right) on Sept. 27 hosts a bilateral summit with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov (third from bottom left) at Cheong Wa Dae. (Cheong Wa Dae)

President Moon Jae-in (right) on Sept. 27 hosts a bilateral summit with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov (third from bottom left) at Cheong Wa Dae. (Cheong Wa Dae)

By Xu Aiying and Kim Minji

President Moon Jae-in on Sept. 27 hosted a summit with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov at Cheong Wa Dae on strengthening bilateral relations and expanding cooperation.

With next year to mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Borissov is the first Bulgarian leader to make an official visit to Korea.

Both men discussed boosting beneficial and forward-looking ties in fields such as trade, investment, energy, infrastructure, national defense, the defense industry, culture and education. They also commended the rise in trade and investment between both nations amid the global trend of trade protectionism, and agreed to continue support to this end.

President Moon lauded the Bulgarian policy of granting “strategic investor status” to Korean companies, saying he expects them to promote more investment in the Balkan country.

Korea can also be an optimal partner of Bulgaria as the latter seeks to introduce nuclear reactors and modernize its national defense, the president added, asking for Sofia’s continuous support and interest to allow Korean companies to take part in these endeavors.

Borissov said he hopes for close bilateral cooperation in information and communications technology, science and technology, and education, three fields that Korea is a world leader in.

President Moon also thanked Sofia for backing Seoul’s efforts to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula through Bulgarian statements expressing support for inter-Korean talks and North Korea-U.S. summits.

The Bulgarian leader lauded President Moon’s will and his administration’s efforts toward building a peace regime on the peninsula and reaffirmed his nation’s firm support.

xuaiy@korea.kr