A U.S. consular office will be reopened in Busan next year to make it more convenient for people living in the southeastern part of South Korea to obtain American visas, a Foreign Ministry official said Sunday.
The official said the agreement was reached during a meeting between South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. A consular office is smaller than a consulate in terms of size and functions.
Ban and Rice visited the Malaysian capital to take part in the ASEAN Regional Forum.
The United States closed its consulate in the South Korean port city in 1996. The move caused considerable inconveniences to residents of the region seeking U.S. visas, with some having to travel nearly 500 kilometers to the embassy in Seoul.
The consular office in Busan will be manned by a small number of U.S. officials and be in charge of issuing visas, protecting American citizens and handling parts of embassy operations in the capital.
Seoul, July 30 (Yonhap News)
S. Korea, U.S. agree to reopen consular office in Busan |
