Park's visit will be the first by a South Korean leader since the
two countries established diplomatic relations in 1962 and her office
said it hoped the visit would help deepen ties after sanctions on Iran
were lifted.
South Korean President Park to make state visit to Iran in May(Reuters)
South Korean President Park Geun-hye will make a state visit to Iran from May 1 to 3 to meet President Hassan Rouhani and initiate discussions with Iran on a wide range of areas including energy and engineering, her office said on Monday.
Park's
visit will be the first by a South Korean leader since the two
countries established diplomatic relations in 1962 and her office said
it hoped the visit would help deepen ties after sanctions on Iran were
lifted.
South Korea, the world's fifth-largest
crude importer, is one of the largest buyers of Iranian oil. Its import
of Iranian crude surged 81 percent in March from the same month a year
earlier, after sanctions were lifted.
South Korea
said it planned to increase imports of Iranian oil this year to meet
growing demand, especially of condensate, a super light oil that can be
processed into fuels and petrochemicals.
Iran on Jan. 17 emerged from years of economic isolation as sanctions over its disputed nuclear programme were lifted.
South
Korea hopes its engineering and ship-building industries can benefit
from Iran's return to markets after the sanctions were lifted. Its ship
builders, along with Chinese yards, hope to be in line for huge orders
as Iran modernises its ageing fleet of super tankers, which is the
world's largest.
Most South Korean ship builders,
including Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries are
likely to bid for new contracts, according to shipping sources.
South
Korean companies also hope to help modernize Iran's ailing
infrastructure, from refineries, roads to the telecommunication sector
as well as enter the market to supply goods ranging from smartphones, to
televisions to automobiles.
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