South Korean leader ends Thailand visit, vows to boost trade

BANGKOK, November 11 (TNA) - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak vows to help develop Thailand into a regional transport hub, marking the end of his official visit to the Southeast Asian country. Mr. Lee is the first South Korean leader to visit Thailand in three decades. On Friday, he received a warm welcome from Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Both leaders have agreed to try to increase their countries’ combined annual trade to 30 billion U.S. dollars over the next five years, double the current figure of 14 billion U.S. dollars per year. That also includes upgrading relations towards becoming a strategic economic partner. The South Korean president also paid respect at the Korean War Memorial in Thailand’s eastern Chon Buri province at a wreathe laying ceremony to honour those killed in the Korean War in 1950. (TNA)