ISTANBUL (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Turkey on Saturday for talks with leaders of the Eurasian nation expected to focus on bolstering economic cooperation and upgrading the traditional friendship between the wartime allies.
The visit to the ancient city of Istanbul and the capital Ankara is part of a four-nation trip that also includes three major oil producing nations -- Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The countries account for about half of South Korea's crude imports.
The swing through the Middle East comes as South Korea prepares to cut back on its crude imports from Iran in line with a U.S.-led campaign to dry up the country's oil export revenues as punishment and pressure over its nuclear weapons programs.
Iranian crude accounts for some 10 percent of South Korea's total oil imports. Concerns have arisen that a drastic cut could have negative effects on Asia's fourth-largest economy. Officials said a key focus of Lee's trip will be to ensure there will be no disruptions to the oil supply after Seoul cuts back on Iranian imports.
Officials said they are optimistic about securing commitment from the three nations to increase their oil production to make up for the shortfall in South Korea's oil imports because the countries are also concerned about the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran.
Lee will be in Turkey for a four-day visit that includes talks with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan about trade expansion, infrastructure construction and other issues of cooperation, the presidential office said.
He will first stop in Istanbul where he will meet with Prime Minister Erdogan, attend a round table meeting with business CEOs and meet with South Korean residents before heading to Ankara on Sunday for summit talks with President Gul set for Monday.
The two sides are expected to agree on upgrading their ties to "strategic partnership."
Turkey sent the fourth-largest number of troops after the U.S., Britain and Canada to help South Korea repel communist troops from North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War. The two countries call each other "brother countries" due to the strong bond forged in blood.
In Ankara, Lee will lay a wreath at a war memorial honoring Turkey's participation in the war.
Lee's talks with Turkish leaders could also include a nuclear power plant construction project, though officials said chances of making progress in the stalled negotiations on the project are not high because differences between the two countries are too large.
In 2010, South Korea and Turkey held intense negotiations on the US$20 billion project to build four nuclear reactors on Turkey's Black Sea coast. But the negotiations were suspended after the sides failed to work out key differences.
Japan had been expected to win the project. But Turkey's talks with Japan have been halted since last March's nuclear power plant accident in Japan. In November, Turkey asked for South Korea's participation in the project, but little progress has since been made.