South Korea's top diplomat met with his Swedish and Finnish counterparts in Brussels on Thursday to discuss bilateral ties, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and Korean Peninsula issues, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong is in the country for a meeting of the foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He is the first South Korean foreign minister to attend such a high-profile NATO meeting, as the country has been invited as a multilateral alliance's Asia-Pacific partner.

Chung and Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde agreed to enhance meaningful collaboration in areas such as information and communications technology (ICT) and entrepreneurship during their meeting on Wednesday local time, as per reports..

Following that, Chung met with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, with whom he promised to continue expanding collaborations in startups, defence, and the environment.

The ministry stated that Haavisto expressed hope for the early start of direct aircraft services between Helsinki and Busan, South Korea's port city, which had been postponed owing to the Covid epidemic.

The Swedish and Finnish ministers were also updated on the security situation in Korea, and they reaffirmed their support for Seoul's efforts to restart talks with Pyongyang. They also discussed the situation in Ukraine.

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