Colombia plans to send a delegation to South Korea around May to explore chances for joint defense projects and to further boost bilateral ties, the South American country's defense minister said Thursday.

"Our defense ministry plans to send a delegation some two months later to South Korea, which is to be comprised of officials of major defense companies and government workers," Juan Carlos Pinzon told reporters in Seoul.

"Their visit will serve as an opportunity to seek strategic cooperative relations between the two countries and to explore chances of joint venture projects," he said, adding details about the scale and their schedule have yet to be finalized.

He made the comments a day after the two nations signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to boost cooperative ties in a wide range of defense fields including intelligence sharing, research and development, humanitarian assistance and technology on military equipment and maintenance.

Pinzon signed the agreement with his South Korean counterpart Han Min-koo in Seoul on Wednesday. The Colombian chief came here on Thursday for a three-day visit and is scheduled to head to Japan later in the day before returning home.

Stressing that the Seoul-Bogota relations have never been stronger, he called for more extensive military information sharing between the two nations.

"I exchanged views on a wide range of issues with Han on security challenges we are facing, and the most crucial thing is to actively exchange intelligence," he said. "We will continue our discussions on what roles each country can play for the partner."

The two nations signed a bilateral arrangement on sharing sensitive military intelligence in June 2011. 

Noting that the security situation in his country has been greatly improved, Pinzon expressed hope for Seoul's active participation in his country's project to modernize the military and the advance of South Korean firms to Colombia.

"I am well aware of the high level of technology and capacity South Korea have, and that's why I am expecting Seoul's active participation in the course of the military modernization plan," he said. "We are also ready to share our experiences and knowhow of fighting against terrorism and organized crimes."

Colombia, which has more than 420,000 troops in its army, navy, air force and law enforcement units, has been pushing for a project to modernize its outdated defense security systems.

As South Korea's long-time ally, Colombia is the sole South American nation that participated in the 1950-53 Korean War. Of its 5,314 troops who fought for the Asian ally, 143 soldiers were killed and 69 went missing, according to Seoul government data. (Yonhap)