South Korean special envoy in Lanka meets Rajapaksa

A special envoy from South Korea today met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa here on a visit aimed at improving the bilateral relationship between Seoul and Colombo, officials said.
South Korean envoy Yu Myung-hwan met Rajapaksa following on from his meeting with External Affairs Minister G L Peiris.
The envoy had commended Sri Lanka's post-war development process including the resettlement of the war displaced and holding elections for the northern provincial council.
Rajapaksa told Yu about the extra effort put in by his government to develop the war-devastated infrastructure in the north and east of the island.
Sri Lanka and South Korea have had a high level of bilateral engagements over the years.

Rajapaksa visited South Korea in 2012 while South Korean Prime Minister Jung Hong-won visited Sri Lanka last year.

Sri Lanka is South Korea's third largest overseas development assistance partner with annual assistance exceeding USD 80 million.
Sri Lanka's labour force is employed in South Korea with 5000 to 6000 people leaving annually for employment.
Some 23,000 Sri Lankan expatriates are currently employed in South Korea.
South Korean tourists to Sri Lanka saw a 55 per cent increase last year with about 12,000 arriving in the island.