Foreign Minister Park Jin held back-to-back talks with top officials of South American countries and Caribbean states in Seoul on Wednesday and discussed bilateral relations and cooperation, the foreign ministry said.

In the meeting with his Ecuadorian counterpart, Gustavo Manrique, the two ministers welcomed that the two countries have reached their strategic economic cooperation agreement, equivalent to a free trade agreement, saying it will open a new chapter for two-way trade cooperation.

The ministers expressed hope for an early official signing of the bilateral pact so that it will serve as a channel for close cooperation on the global supply chain of raw materials once it comes into force, according to the ministry.

The two sides also signed an agreement on coordinating in the criminal justice system, with details to be fine-tuned going forward.

Park met separately with his counterpart of Suriname, Albert Ramdin, and discussed efforts to boost bilateral cooperation in agriculture, climate change, food security, health and other areas.

As part of such efforts, Park and Ramdin signed a joint declaration on comprehensive bilateral cooperation, the ministry said.

Earlier, Park also met with Rodolfo Sabonge, secretary-general of the Association of Caribbean States, an intergovernmental organization representing 25 member states in the Caribbean and ten other associate states in the region. South Korea became an ACS observer in 1998.

Park also held talks with his counterpart from Jamaica and a minister of the islands of Grenada.

The officials were visiting Seoul this week to attend a high-level forum between South Korea and the Caribbean states that took place the previous day. (Yonhap)