Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa held talks on November 14 with his South Korean counterpart Hong Soon-young on bilateral ties and regional issues of mutual interest.

Moussa and Hong are expected to review the outcome of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's visit to South Korea last April and the implementation of the agreements signed between the two countries, Egypt's Middle East News Agency reported.

The two ministers will seek ways of bolstering bilateral relations in various fields, especially as regards economy, trade and investment.

Hong arrived in Cairo late Saturday on a four-day visit. He is the first South Korean foreign minister to visit Egypt since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1995.

The trade volume stood at 590 million US dollars between Egypt and South Korea in 1997. South Korea has so far invested 160 million dollars in Egypt and has expressed readiness to invest more in the North African country.

Moussa and Hong will exchange views on a number of issues in the Middle East, Asia, the Korean Peninsula and other regions, the agency said.

There are speculations that the South Korean official may ask Egypt to mediate between South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Egypt maintains traditional relations with DPRK.

Earlier Sunday, Egyptian Prime Minister Atef Obeid met with Hong and discussed with him regional issues of mutual interest and bilateral relations.

After his trip in Egypt, Hong will attend a summit of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe that will be held on Thursday and Friday in Istanbul, Turkey.