Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit South Korea in November to discuss closer bilateral ties and wider personnel and cultural exchanges, reports said Tuesday.

Putin’s visit will be in response to President Park Geun-hye’s trip to St. Petersburg in September to attend the G20 summit. Putin will become the first head of state of the four major neighboring countries including the U.S., China and Japan to visit Seoul during the Park administration.

Putin, currently in his third presidential term, traveled to Korea in 2001 and 2005.

Reports said the two presidents are likely to sign a treaty on a visa waiver program. Other pending issues include the gas pipeline connection project promoted since 2011 by the two countries.

During their summit talks, Park had also asked Putin to push for the long-discussed trilateral railway project connecting the Trans-Siberian Railway with the Trans-Korean Railway as part of efforts to ease peninsular tension and promote wider economic exchanges and benefits.

Government officials here have said Park’s meeting with Putin last month was a successful one to break the ice.

Park, who had visited the U.S. and China before Russia earlier this year, is set to leave for Southeast Asia to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the summit with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations next week.

Park is also scheduled to visit the United Kingdom in November.

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)