Laotian President Choummaly Sayasone will visit South Korea next week for a summit with President Park Geun-hye about ways to expand economic, political and cultural cooperation and exchanges, Seoul’s presidential office said Thursday.

The Nov. 21-23 trip will mark the first-ever visit to South Korea by a Laotian president since the two countries reopened diplomatic relations in 1995. Their ties were first forged in 1974, but were cut off a year later after the Southeast Asian nation was communized.

Park and Sayasone are scheduled to hold a summit on Nov. 22 to discuss how to promote political dialogue, deepen economic relations and expand cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, along with regional security issues, the office said.

Laos has close ties with North Korea as well.

Earlier this year, the country came under criticism from the international community for deporting nine young North Koreans fleeing from their communist homeland back to China. The refugees were believed to have been repatriated later to the North. (Yonhap News)