The top diplomats of South Korea and Zambia have held talks in the African nation to discuss Seoul's bid to host the 2030 World Expo, supply chain cooperation for key minerals and other issues, the foreign ministry here said Friday.

Foreign Minister Park Jin and his Zambian counterpart, Stanley Kasongo Kakubo, met Thursday as Park was in Zambia as part of his overseas trip that includes visits to Ethiopia, Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates.

Park's multination trip comes as Seoul is ramping up diplomatic efforts to enlist international support for its bid to host the expo in its southeastern city of Busan. The host nation is slated to be selected in November.

Park stressed the need to step up "strategic cooperation" with Zambia, which he described as a country that acts as a regional hub, sharing borders with eight other countries in Africa, according to the ministry.

The two sides also discussed cooperation in the supply chain of key minerals. Zambia has rich reserves of critical minerals needed to produce batteries for electric vehicles.

Park then requested Zambia's support for South Korea's push to host the World Expo, saying it will help enhance Seoul's "long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation" with developing countries.

Park is the first South Korean foreign minister to visit Zambia since diplomatic ties between the two nations were established in 1990.

Separately, he also held talks with Zambia's Commerce Minister Chipoka Mulenga to discuss expanding economic ties, including in key minerals, energy and infrastructure. (Yonhap)