South Korea and Romania initialed an agreement Wednesday to expand a visa waiver program in a bid to beef up their cooperation, Seoul's foreign ministry said.



The move is expected to allow people, including those having business purposes, to stay up to 180 days in each other's countries without a visa, the foreign ministry said. The revised agreement is expected to be officially signed within this year.



Currently, a visa exemption is only applied to South Koreans and Romanians who travel to each other's countries on nonprofit purposes for up to 90 days.



The move came at a meeting in Seoul between South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong and his Romanian counterpart, Carmen Burlacu.



They discussed ways to flesh out the strategic partnership between the two countries and promote cooperation in such areas as infrastructure and technology, the foreign ministry added.



This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relationship. (Yonhap)