SANTIAGO (Yonhap) -- Korean President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Chile on Thursday for summit talks with President Sebastian Pinera expected to focus on enhancing bilateral relations and economic cooperation.
The three-day visit will begin with a meeting with South Korean residents in Chile later Thursday before holding summit talks with Pinera on Friday. Key topics include cooperation in resources development, infrastructure construction and renewable energy, officials said.
Lee is also scheduled to attend a meeting with Chilean business leaders, and the government of Santiago also plans to award Lee honorary citizenship in recognition of his contributions to strengthening ties between Seoul and the Chilean capital when Lee served as Seoul mayor in 2002-2006.
Chile is a major source of lithium, copper and other raw materials for South Korea. It is also the first foreign nation that signed a free trade agreement with Seoul and this year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Since the free trade pact went into force in 2004, trade volume between the two countries increased 4.6 fold to $7.24 billion last year.