Foreign Minister Park Jin has proposed launching joint maritime research projects between South Korea and Caribbean nations at a regional ministerial gathering held in Guatemala, his office said Friday.

The minister made the proposal to establish a joint South Korea-Caribbean maritime research center as part of efforts to strengthen ties between Seoul and the region at the 28th ministerial council meeting of the Association of Caribbean States held in Antigua on Thursday, according to the foreign ministry.

Park, who attended the gathering as an observer nation representative, called for the strengthening of ties between South Korea and the ACS based on cooperative relations between the two sides throughout the past 25 years.

He also held separate meetings with ACS Secretary-General Rodolfo Sabonge and other key representatives at the meeting to discuss ways to strengthen ties with their respective governments, the ministry said. (Yonhap)