President meets South Korean press officials

SEOUL, April 27 (Saba)- President Ali Abdullah Saleh, on a current visit to Seoul, met with senior South Korean media officials wanting to elicit statements on the bilateral relations. Media personnel included representatives of Hope TV News Agency, Ring Ring TV, Korea Arabic Radio, English daily Korean Times, and monthly Diplomat, the journal that plans to release a special edition on Yemen Unification Day, May 22. The president answered questions of reporters, most of which concerned the outcomes of his talks with his South Korean counterpart Roh Moo-hyun. President Saleh said Yemen and South Korea are actively engaged in mutual marketing natural gas, exploring oil and cooperation in field of information technology. Answering questions on how Yemen unification can inspire the unification of the two Koreas, Saleh pointed that he detailed the concessions made by former northern and southern Yemen in their approach of unity. The president said that he discussed with Roh Moo-hyun the reopening of the South Korean embassy in Sana’a for further improvement of the bilateral relations. He affirmed that Yemen’s relations with South Korea could not come at the expense of ties with North Korea. The Korean press hailed President Saleh as the pioneer of Yemen’s major political, economic and democratic transformations. He spoke highly of the role of the Yemeni-Korean Center for Serving relations of cooperation. He discussed with officials of SK company and High Smart the investment in oil and the advent of smart card technology to the ID and civil register offices in Yemen. AA/NS SABA