South Korea’s parliamentary chief will visit the Philippines and Vietnam next week on an official trip aimed at bolstering ties with the region ahead of its launch of a regional economic bloc later this year, the parliamentary secretariat said Friday.
On the first leg of the seven-day trip, National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa will travel to the Philippines on Sunday, where he is scheduled to meet with the country’s parliamentary leaders and discuss how to deepen two-way economic cooperation, the secretariat said.
He is also expected to call for the Philippine government’s cooperation in preventing crimes against Korean residents following the murders of several South Koreans there.
Chung will fly to Vietnam on Tuesday and hold a series of meetings with the country’s political leaders, including his counterpart, Nguyen Sinh Hung, according to the secretariat.
“It will be an opportunity to further deepen overall bilateral ties following last year’s conclusion of the South Korea-Vietnam free trade agreement,” an official at Chung’s office said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Chung visited Indonesia in December and Myanmar and Laos in January as part of efforts to boost parliamentary exchanges with Southeast Asian nations. (Yonhap)
