South Korea’s president has arrived in Tehran in the first such high-level visit since the two nations established diplomatic ties in 1962.
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President Hassan Rouhani says there is suitable ground for foreign investment in Iran as he received his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye in Tehran.
Park is reportedly bringing more than 230 business leaders within her delegation.
Rouhani’s comments are the latest act of global pressure being exerted on North Korea to give up its nuclear program and end its provocations.
The South Korean president said Iran is endowed with effective and efficacious human resources and an exceptional geographical position, adding: “We hope that relations between the two countries will improve particularly in the economic sector in the future”.
South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani smile at a press conference after their summit in Saadabad Palace in Tehran Monday. On Sunday, Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said Iran’s oil exports to South Korea have more than quadrupled to 400,000 barrels a day since sanctions were lifted in January.
Leading business groups of South Korea and Iran agreed Tuesday to promote commercial and industrial partnerships by establishing consultative bodies. “Our basic principle is that there should be no nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula or in the Middle East”. On Monday, the Associated Press reported that Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi was visiting the Czech Republic, primarily to discuss prospects for bilateral nuclear cooperation between the two countries.
In an interview with an Iranian newspaper, Park also said that there “is a limit” to applying a Iran-like deal to the North.
The trade volume between Korea and Iran stood at $6.1 billion in 2015, compared with $17.4 billion in 2011.
He also said the important agreements that were signed between Iran and South Korea will turn Tehran-Seoul economic relations into “strategic” ones. The deals amount to some 37-billion USA dollars for Korea, which will participate in a large number of infrastructure projects with Iran as it looks to rebuild its economy after the lifting of worldwide sanctions.
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The two sides designated 2017 as the year of cultural exchanges between the two countries.
