South Korea establishes diplomatic ties with Syria, longtime ally of North Korea

South Korea has established a formal diplomatic relations with Syria the last remaining UN member state apart from North Korea that did not have formal ties with Seoul.

Our foreign affairs correspondent Bae Eun-ji reports.

Syria has now become the 194th country in the world to form diplomatic relations with South Korea marking a milestone for the country, as it now has formal ties with all UN member states, except North Korea.

Foreign minister Cho Tae-yul visited Syria's capital city Damascus this week,.. and signed a joint statement on Thursday local time, with his counterpart Assad al-Shaibani.

"By establishing diplomatic relations with Syria -the last remaining country with which we had no diplomatic ties, South Korea has now reached a historic milestone of establishing diplomatic relations with all 191 UN member states."

The two sides held a meeting, where Cho said South Korea is willing to contribute to reconstruction efforts in Syria, and discussed the possibility of Korean companies participating in rebuilding the country.

He also promised Seoul will provide humanitarian assistance including medicine, medical equipment and rice.

During his visit, Cho also met the country's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa.. and said taking a firm stance against extremism and eliminating chemical weapons, will help create an environment conducive to the country's development.

South Korea started to work on forging diplomatic ties with Syria, after more than 13 years of war recently put an end to the brutal Assad dictatorship which had maintained a close relationship with North Korea for decades.

The Assad family regime, which ruled the country for more than 50 years, collapsed in December during a major offensive by opposition forces.

Syria has had diplomatic ties with North Korea since 1966, but the fall of the dictatorship brought about a significant shift in its relations with Pyongyang.

Now that South Korea has forged ties with nations that have been close allies of the North, including Cuba last year, this latest diplomatic development is expected to further isolate Pyongyang on the global stage.

Bae Eun-ji, Arirang News.