Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon met with Finland's Parliamentary Speaker Maria Lohela on Wednesday and discussed bolstering cooperation, including tackling the low birth rate problem that is facing the two countries, his office said.

Lee expressed hope that the two countries will expand mutually beneficial cooperation in economy, defense and education. Lohela said her visit included events promoting cooperation in business, tourism and health care, and she will continue efforts to expand the cooperation to other areas.

Lee said he looks forward to seeing many athletes from Finland, a winter sports power, competing in next year's Winter Olympics in South Korea's PyeongChang, and that many Finnish people, including senior officials, will be able to visit the South during the Games.
 

Lohela also said that people-to-people exchanges are a basis for moving relations between the two countries forward, and that she believes the PyeongChang Winter Games will contribute to bolstering tourism in South Korea.

The two sides also shared the seriousness of low birth rates and exchanged views on how to tackle the problem such as increasing welfare and jobs for old people and ensuring job security for women after childbirth, the office said.

Lee also asked for Finland's continued support for peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Lohela said she took a firsthand look at the division of the peninsula when she visited the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, and that Finland actively supports Seoul's efforts to bring permanent peace to the peninsula. (Yonhap)