SEOUL, Senior diplomats of South Korea and Cuba will hold talks in Seoul later this week, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Tuesday, the first such talks since the establishment of bilateral relations earlier this year.

Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won will meet one-on-one with Carlos Pereira, director general for bilateral affairs at the Cuban foreign ministry, on Wednesday, ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said in a press briefing.

Pereira is in Seoul this week to attend a regional forum on cooperation between South Korea and Latin American countries. Pereira is the first senior Cuban diplomat visiting South Korea since the two countries forged the formal diplomatic ties in February.

Following the forum on Monday, Pereira told some South Korean reporters that opening a Cuban embassy in Seoul could possibly happen as early as next month, a remark seen as expressing Havana’s willingness to have its official diplomatic presence soon despite the fact that it usually takes more time to carry out the proc
edures.

South Korea and Cuba have not decided on the location of the Cuban mission, Seoul officials said. A Cuban diplomat from its embassy in China has been visiting Seoul since last month to work on the opening of the embassy.

“South Korea and Cuba are in consultations to open embassies in each other’s countries,” Lim said in the briefing. “The two countries will continue to work closely together to ensure that a permanent mission (in Korea) can be opened at an earliest date possible.”

Pereira highlighted at the forum the strong potential for cooperation between South Korea and Cuba in minerals, renewable energy and agriculture, as well as economy and investment.

Pereira expressed hope that many South Korean companies will come to Cuba to participate in its efforts toward energy transition.

“Cuba is very interested in expanding the substantive cooperation with us, and I expect that will be part of the main focus at Wednesday’s talks,” a foreign ministry official said.

Source: Yonhap News Agency