President Aliyev to visit S. Korea on April 23-25

President Roh Moo-hyun and Aliyev are to hold a summit on April 23 to discuss expanding two-way exchanges and cooperation in energy and natural resources, the office said.

Aliyev will be the first Azerbaijani head of state to visit South Korea since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations in 1992. Roh visited Azerbaijan last May.

During last year's summit, South Korea and Azerbaijan reached an agreement on the joint development of the southwest Asian country's oil resources in the Caspian Sea. They also agreed to establish resident embassies in each other's capitals in the near future. At present, the South Korean ambassador to Uzbekistan doubles as the country's envoy to Azerbaijan, while the Azerbaijani Embassy in China handles the country's diplomatic affairs with South Korea.

The two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding to allow Korea National Oil Corp. and other South Korean companies to participate in Azerbaijan's Inam oil well project under way in the central southern part of the Caspian Sea. Yonhap