SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- Foreign Minister Cho Hyun plans to hold separate talks with his Mexican and Kuwaiti counterparts next week to discuss ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in areas ranging from the economy to energy security, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

Mexican Foreign Secretary Roberto Velasco is scheduled to visit Seoul for talks with Cho on Monday, becoming the first Mexican foreign minister to visit South Korea in three years, according to the ministry.

The two sides are expected to discuss ways to strengthen economic ties and cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI), space, culture, education and defense, among other fields, it added.

Mexico is South Korea's largest trading and investment partner in Latin America. The two countries have maintained close cooperation in various fields since establishing a strategic partnership in 2005, the first such partnership Seoul forged with a Latin American nation.

Cho is also scheduled to meet with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in Seoul on Tuesday, the ministry said.

Al-Sabah's visit to South Korea will mark the first visit by a Kuwaiti foreign minister to the country since 2007.

"As cooperation with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries expands following the outbreak of war in the Middle East, the two sides are expected to hold in-depth discussions on revitalizing high-level exchanges, ensuring a stable energy supply, Korean companies' participation in post-war reconstruction projects and ways to expand government-to-government cooperation," ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon said at a regular press briefing.

Kuwait was South Korea's fifth-largest crude oil supplier and fourth-largest overseas construction market as of 2025, and the two nations have maintained a comprehensive and mutually beneficial partnership, the ministry said.

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