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| ▲ South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin (2nd from L) holds discussions with his Armenian counterpart, Ararat Mirzoyan (2nd from R), in Slovenia on Aug. 28, 2023, in this photo provided by the foreign ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin (L) poses for a photo as he pays a courtesy visit to Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob, in Slovenia on Aug. 28, 2023, in this photo provided by the foreign ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) FM-Europe-Expo bid
(LEAD) S. Korean FM seeks support for World Expo bid in Europe
(ATTN: UPDATES with more info in paras 7,10-11; ADDS photo)
SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Yonhap) -- Foreign Minister Park Jin has held a flurry of discussions with leaders of European nations to seek support for South Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo, his office said Tuesday.
On the sidelines of the 2023 Bled Strategic Forum held in Slovenia the previous day, Park held bilateral talks with his counterparts from Armenia, North Macedonia, Slovakia and Switzerland, and paid a courtesy visit to Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov.
Park stressed that the southeastern port city of Busan would be the "best choice" for the World Expo in his back-to-back meetings, during which the European leaders said they would seriously consider its candidacy, according to the ministry.
They also reaffirmed their support for South Korea's "audacious" initiative to offer economic assistance to the North in exchange for denuclearization steps, as Park addressed the escalating military provocations from Pyongyang.
The Bled Strategic Forum is an annual international conference on diplomacy and security, bringing together experts and policymakers from Central and Southeastern Europe.
Park was on a four-day visit to Turkey and Slovenia, where he attended a session of the forum as the first South Korean foreign minister to do so.
During the session, Park explained the outcome of the recent trilateral summit between the leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David in Maryland, the ministry said.
At the opening ceremony of the forum, Park briefly met Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and several other leaders to rally their support for South Korea's bid.
Park also held a brief meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and discussed follow-up measures on agreements reached by the leaders of the two countries at a summit meeting in May, including critical mineral supply chains and high-level economic security dialogue.
In Slovenia, he paid a courtesy visit to Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob to express his solidarity and condolences to the people of Slovenia for their loss in a devastating flood earlier this month.
Park noted the closely-knit relations between the two countries, which celebrated their 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties last year with the opening of the Slovenian embassy in Seoul.
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