Libyan delegation to visit Korea on Tuesday, talk cooperation

A delegation of Libyan government officials and executives will visit Korea this week to discuss ways to cooperate in the sectors of communications, electricity and others, Seoul officials said Yesterday.

The Libyan delegation is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Tuesday for a five-day visit that will be the first official visit to Korea since Libya’s nine-month civil war ended last month with the capture and killing of Muammar el-Qaddafi, who had ruled there for more than four decades. The areas of cooperation to be discussed during the visit include ports, steel, food and auto parts, said an official at the Korean embassy in Tripoli.

This month, Korea sent a second batch of water engineers to help the war-torn nation restore its water supply services. With Qaddafi gone, foreign companies, including Korean builders and trading firms, are competing to help further develop the oil-rich nation. However, Seoul officials have cautioned private firms against hastily seeking investment opportunities in Libya, where the new government is still struggling to establish authority and maintain public order.