PUTRAJAYA, May 2 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim discussed issues of common interests and efforts to strengthen bilateral ties with South Korea when its Foreign Minister Park Jin made a courtesy call on him today.
The hour-long meeting at Perdana Putra here was held as part of Park’s two-day working visit to Malaysia, beginning yesterday.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir was present at the meeting.
Park is making his first visit to Malaysia since being appointed as Foreign Minister in May 2022.
Anwar, in a Facebook post, said Park and he discussed issues of mutual interests, including cooperation in the economic sector, defence, infrastructure development, transport and renewable energy.
“We agreed to again step up exchange of visits at the highest level between the two countries.
“We also exchanged views on international and geopolitical issues. The Republic of Korea is a close and important friend of Malaysia. It is hoped this visit will strengthen ties and bring benefits to both countries,” he said.
Anwar said he had met Park while serving as deputy prime minister during an official visit to Seoul in 1996. At the time, Park was the political secretary and interpreter to then-South Korean president Kim Young Sam.
Wisma Putra, in a statement yesterday, said Park’s visit coincided with the 40th-anniversary celebration of the Look East Policy involving Malaysia and South Korea.
“This visit will be a platform for both sides to upgrade bilateral ties to another level, based on the principle of common interests, mutual trust and people-to-people relationships,” the statement said.
In 2022, South Korea was Malaysia’s eighth largest trading partner with trade totalling RM114.21 billion (US$25.94 billion), a 29.3 per cent increase over the figure for 2021.
South Korea is also Malaysia’s seventh biggest foreign investor in the manufacturing sector with implemented projects worth RM33 billion (US$9.25 billion).
— Bernama
