By Kim Tong-hyung
Korea Times Correspondent
GUATEMALA CITY _ South Koreans will be able to travel to Guatemala for up to 90 days without visa, and vice versa.
President Roh Moo-hyun and Guatemalan President Oscar Berger agreed on the visa waiver program at a summit here Monday.
The two leaders also agreed to widen bilateral relations in other fields, such as commerce, investment, education, health, information technology and culture, presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said.
"The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the steady improvement in ties between the two countries in the wake of the establishment of their diplomatic ties in 1962. They agreed to regularize high-level policy coordination talks," said Cheon.
"Berger reconfirmed his government's support of Seoul's effort to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear problem, while Roh stressed that PyeongChang's successful hosting of the 2014 Winter Olympics would contribute to peace on the Korean Peninsula."
Following the summit, Roh and Berger observed their Cabinet ministers sign bilateral accords on a visa waiver program and South Korea's provision of soft loans, meant to help upgrade IT systems at Guatemalan schools, said the spokesman.
The IT upgrade program calls for South Korea to extend $23.6 million in a soft loan to Guatemala's "Educative Informatics Highway Project."
Roh arrived in Guatemala on Sunday to back PyeongChang's bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics at the annual general conference of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that opens here Wednesday.
IOC members will gather in this Central American country to select the host city of the games in a secret vote during their July 4 session. PyeongChang, a South Korean mountain
resort, is competing with Salzburg of Austria and Sochi of Russia.