South Korea National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo (The Korea Herald)

South Korea National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo is heading to Turkey on Wednesday for the eighth MIKTA parliamentary speakers’ meeting. MIKTA is the informal grouping of Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia.

In a release on Tuesday, the National Assembly speaker’s office said that at the MIKTA meeting, Kim would “seek joint responses at the parliamentary level” on issues such as sustainable development.

The office also said the speaker would “appeal for humanitarian aid” for South Korea’s key ally, Turkey, for the recent eathquake damage.

After a stop in Turkey, Kim is traveling to Italy to meet with the president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Lorenzo Fontana, to discuss expanding cooperation in the field of renewable energy, his office said. While in Italy, he is also due to meet with Pietro Parolin, the cardinal secretary of state of Vatican City.

The last stop of Kim’s 10-day trip will be Israel, where he will meet with Amir Ohana, speaker of the Israeli Knesset, or parliament, to talk about the two countries’ collaboration across scientific fields. Kim believes there is “a lot of room for negotiation” as South Korea’s trade deal with Israel went into effect in December last year.

Finally, Kim is seeking to pursue a high-ranking diplomatic meeting with Palestinian authorities.

In the release, Kim said that over his meetings with the parliamentary speakers he would work to secure support for Busan’s bid to host the World Expo 2030.

Democratic Party of Korea Reps. Jun Hye-sook, Kwon Chil-seung, Kang Byung-won, Lee Jang-sub and Hong Kee-won and Justice Party Rep. Lee Eun-ju are among those joining the speaker on the trip.

Kim, a five-time Democratic Party lawmaker, took office as the National Assembly speaker in July last year. He served as the policy coordination secretary to former President Kim Dae-jung and as finance minister for former President Roh Moo-hyun.