Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon will visit Greece and Bulgaria next week in his first overseas trip since taking office to attend a torch-lighting ceremony for the PyeongChang Olympics and to discuss ways to bolster cooperation with the two countries, his office said Monday.

Lee's trip to Greece will make him the first South Korean prime minister to visit the European country since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1961. The Oct. 22-24 visit includes a meeting with President Prokopios Pavlopoulos and talks with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

In particular, Lee will also attend the Olympic torch-lighting ceremony in the city of Olympus to underscore South Korea's commitment to successfully host the Olympics, the office said. Lee will also meet with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and other IOC officials to discuss cooperation between the two sides.

Talks with Tsipras are expected to focus on ways to increase mutually beneficial cooperation in the areas of maritime, shipbuilding, transportation, infrastructure, electronic government, agriculture and tourism, the office said.

Lee will then visit Bulgaria from Oct. 24-26 for a meeting with President Rumen Radev and talks with his counterpart and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. He will also attend a dinner reception to be hosted by the country's parliamentary speaker Dimitar Borisov Glavchev and a ceremony to launch the Korea-Bulgaria chamber of commerce, the office said.

The agenda for talks with Borissov include ways to deepen cooperation between the two countries in the fields of science and technology, information and communications technology, electronic government and agriculture, while exploring new areas of cooperation, the office said. (Yonhap)