By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
Polish President Lech Kaczynski agreed to help Korean firms participate in the planned expansion of Poland's infrastructure, including nuclear power plants, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, subways and expressways, during his summit talks with President Lee Myung-bak, Friday.
Kaczynski arrived in Seoul for a three-day official visit here.
At the summit at Cheong Wa Dae, the leaders agreed to deepen bilateral ties, according to a spokesman.
``Lee asked the Polish leader to support South Korean companies seeking to take part in Poland's plans to build new atomic power plants, LNG terminals, subways and roads. In response, Kaczynski welcomed Korean participation in his country's infrastructure projects,'' the spokesman said.
Poland is the country's largest trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe. It plans to build a 440 million euro LNG storage facility and two to three nuclear power plants by 2012 and significantly expand its road, railroad and Internet networks in coming years, according to Seoul officials.
``Welcoming the 20th anniversary _ in 2009 _ of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties, Lee and Kaczynski also agreed to further expand bilateral cooperation in overall fields, including politics, the economy, society and culture,'' he said.
Kaczynski is planning to meet with Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, and will receive an honorary doctorate from Hankook University of Foreign Studies and visit the Demilitarized Zone before leaving South Korea Sunday.
In October, Lee held talks with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting summit in Beijing, where the two agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation in the Polish infrastructure sector.
At the Beijing talks, Lee expressed particularly strong interest in the nuclear power plant projects, saying that South Korean companies boast the world's best safety technology and know-how in the field of nuclear power generation.
Lee also promoted the superiority of the South Korean-built T-50 plane, as the Polish government was reportedly moving to import pilot-training planes.
Korea and Poland agreed to expand cooperation in the field of culture, science and education for the next three years.
The agreement was made Friday between Polish Secretary of State Jan Borkowski and Korean counterpart Shin Kak-soo on the occasion of the visit of the Polish President.
The two countries are to celebrate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relationship and the 200th anniversary of famous Polish pianist Frederick Chopin's birth next year.
Next year, a Korean Cultural Center will open in Poland.
Former President Roh Moo-hyun visited Poland in 2004.