South Korea and Georgia have signed an air services agreement that would lay the foundation for operations of direct flights traveling between the two countries, the foreign ministry said Friday.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Georgian Ambassador to South Korea Otar Berdzenishvili formally inked the agreement Thursday, after the two countries reached the agreement through aviation talks in July 2019.

The agreement is to take effect on the 30th day from the two countries' mutual notification of the completion of their domestic procedures required for its effectuation, the ministry said.

"We expect that this air services agreement would lay the institutional foundation for operations of flights between the two countries and for securing New Northern Policy networks," the ministry said in a press release.

The New Northern Policy is Seoul's foreign policy initiative to strengthen economic cooperation with Russia and other Eurasian countries.

The latest agreement brings to 91 the total number of air services agreements that South Korea has signed with foreign countries. (Yonhap)