By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak met with Algerian and Turkmen leaders separately Friday to discuss closer cooperation in natural resources and infrastructure development on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, Cheong Wa Dae said.
Lee arrived in Beijing in the morning for a two-day visit. He is the first South Korean head of state to attend an Olympic opening abroad.
He also joined with other leaders, including U.S. President George W. Bush, in a welcome lunch hosted by Chinese President Hu Jintao.
During the luncheon, Lee encountered North Korea's No. 2 leader Kim Yong-nam.
But it was not known immediately whether Lee spoke to Kim, chairman of the North Korean Supreme People's Committee, in their first encounter.
During a summit with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Lee proposed that the two countries further expand cooperation through joint oil and gas exploration projects, the presidential office said.
Lee asked the Algerian leader to support South Korean firms in the African nation's forthcoming international bid for a joint oil and gas project, it said.
Lee also proposed more South Korean construction firms, which have advanced know-how and technology on infrastructure development, participate in building projects in Algeria.
Bouteflika expressed satisfaction with improving relations with South Korea ranging from economic and cultural to global cooperation since the two nations' establishment of diplomatic ties in 1990, it said.
He pledged full support for continued, substantial cooperation with the Korean government in the area of defense industry, as well as economic cooperation, and infrastructure and energy resources development.
Seoul and Algiers agreed in March 2006 to upgrade their bilateral relationship to that of a strategic partnership.
Lee also agreed with Turkmen President G. Berdimuhamedow that their two nations would push for various economic cooperation programs, a Cheong Wa Dae official said.
The Turkmen leader expressed support for South Korean firms' participation in the Central Asian nation's projects to develop social infrastructure and undersea resources in the Caspian Sea, he said.
With an area of 488,100 sqare kilometers, Turkmenistan has huge reserves of natural resources, including liquefied natural gas and crude oil. There is a wide range of minerals to produce chemicals.
The two leaders also agreed to expand bilateral cooperation on the sector of culture and sports, said the official.
The two countries established diplomatic ties in 1992.
On Saturday, President Lee is scheduled to hold summits with Chinese President Hu. He will also visit the South Korean athletes' base camp before returning home.