South Korea's land minister has embarked on a six-day trip to Uzbekistan, Turkey and Iran with a business delegation to support local companies' bids for infrastructure projects and expand economic ties, her office said Monday.

Kim Hyun-mi, minister of land, infrastructure and transport, headed a group of senior officials from state utility companies, construction firms and banks to discuss major infrastructure projects in the three countries. The trip runs from Sunday to Friday.

The policymaker first visited Iran to check on the business environment, as uncertainties are rising over a 2015 nuclear deal which eased sanctions on the Middle Eastern nation in exchange for freezing its nuclear program. 

As US President Donald Trump has refused to certify the multinational accord, the government will meet Korean companies doing businesses there and seek ways support their ongoing infrastructure and development projects, the ministry said.

The delegation will move to Turkey to host a business forum with local businesspeople in a bid to expand cooperation in the construction and transport projects between the two nations.

In Uzbekistan, Kim will meet with construction, energy and economy policymakers to discuss a smart city project and the remodeling of an international airport in the capital city, Tashkent, the ministry said.

Last year, South Korea's Lotte Chemical Corp. opened a gas chemical complex in Uzbekistan's northwest as part of a $3.9 billion project, and two other gas plants are under construction by Korean companies, the ministry said. (Yonhap)