South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won embarked on a trip Saturday to Egypt, Morocco and Azerbaijan to explore ways of boosting economic cooperation with the countries, his office said Saturday.

As the first leg of his seven-day tour, Chung stayed in Egypt during which he met with his Egyptian counterpart Ibrahim Mahlab for talks on South Korean firms’ possible participation in the country’s massive nuclear reactor construction project and cooperation on defense projects.

He also visited Ain Shams University, which opened a Korean language department for the first time in the Arabic world, and  to met students and faculty members there with the goal to support the further spread of Korean culture.

During the three-day stay in Morocco, the prime minister met with Abdelilah Benkirane and  discussed ways to boost bilateral cooperation in such sectors as construction, industrial plants and renewable energy.

Chung will be South Korea’s first top-level official to visit the nation since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1962, his office said.