Republic

The House of Representatives of the National Assembly plans to ratify an agreement with the Republic of Korea on abolishing visas in diplomatic and service passports. The document was approved by the permanent commission for international affairs and links with the CIS on April 7. According to Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Andrei Evdochenko, the agreement was signed in Seoul in November 2007. “The contacts in political and economic areas between Belarus and Korea have been developing quite successfully. The countries exchange visits of parliamentary delegations, officials of ministries and agencies. With a view to simplifying the trips the Korean side suggested signing a relevant agreement,” the Deputy Minister said. In line with the agreement citizens of Belarus and Korea, the holders of diplomatic and service, do not need visas to enter, depart, go transit through the territory of each other or to stay in the other country for up to 90 days since the first entry date. According to Andrei Evdochenko, the agreement will “help intensify the political dialogue and trade and economic cooperation with the Republic of Korea”. He informed that the Korean side has completed domestic legislative procedures in respect of this agreement. Answering the questions of the deputies, Andrei Evdochenko said that “the issue of opening an embassy of Korea in Belarus is on the agenda of bilateral relations”. However, the Korean side believes that a more intensive economic cooperation is needed for opening such diplomatic missions. The project on setting up Korean car manufacture in Belarus is under consideration.