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President Lee Jae-myung speaks by phone with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul from the presidential office in Yongsan, Seoul, on Oct. 16. / Source: Yonhap News

President Lee Jae-myung held his first phone conversation with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Thursday, discussing ways to strengthen bilateral relations and regional cooperation.

According to Presidential Spokesman Kim Nam-jun, President Lee congratulated Anutin on his inauguration in September and emphasized Thailand’s status as a “valued traditional ally” that fought alongside South Korea during the Korean War.

Prime Minister Anutin, in turn, expressed support for Seoul’s peace policy. “We highly value and support Korea’s ‘END Initiative’ for easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and resuming inter-Korean dialogue,” he said. “We expect President Lee’s efforts will contribute to peace in the region and the world.”

Anutin also conveyed hopes to meet President Lee in person at the upcoming ASEAN-related summits and the APEC Summit in Gyeongju later this month.

The two leaders agreed that bilateral ties have expanded significantly across trade, investment, and people-to-people exchanges. They pledged to further deepen their “strategic partnership” through new cooperation in defense, digital finance, and infrastructure development.

Both sides also agreed to work toward the early conclusion of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which is currently under negotiation.