Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Friday that his government hopes to upgrade relations with Gabon as he held talks with his Gabonese counterpart Emmanuel Issoze Ngondet.

Ngondet arrived in Seoul early this week for a five-day visit that marked the first of its kind by an African foreign minister since Yun took office.

“In the wake of Minister Ngondet’s visit to Korea, I expect to upgrade bilateral relations with Gabon,” Yun told the Gabonese minister during his opening remarks.

Yun and Ngondet were expected to discuss a wide range of issues, including ways to boost trade and investment, and increase cooperation in energy, resources and development between the two countries.

Gabon, a resource-rich economy with the third-largest oil reserves in sub-Saharan Africa, is one of South Korea’s major African partners, with which Korea has maintained close and cooperative political ties since forging diplomatic relations in 1962, according to Yun’s ministry.

During the talks, South Korea and Gabon signed a pact that allows their diplomats and government officials to travel to each other’s country without visas.

The Gabonese minister visited the Korea Development Institute this week to learn about Korea’s development experience as well as Korean companies planning to make inroads into Gabon, ministry officials said. (Yonhap News)