South Korea and Thailand on Saturday signed a defense cooperation agreement, agreed to deepen all-around cooperation and upgrade their relations to a "strategic partnership" in the near future, a joint statement said.

The statement came after a summit between South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Shinawatra arrived in Seoul to attend the Nuclear Security Summit, set for Monday and Tuesday, a biennial conference of global leaders aimed mainly at discussing ways to prevent nuclear terrorism.

On the sidelines of the summit, the defense ministers of the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding that lays out the scope and other details and principles on defense exchanges.

The presidential office said the accord is an instrumental basis for defense cooperation.

Lee and Yingluck welcomed the agreement and pledged to work closely together to further accelerate and deepen cooperation, especially in the areas of disaster relief and peacekeeping, the joint statement said.

The two leaders also agreed to cooperate actively to establish a water resources management system in Thailand, which suffered devastating flooding last year. The sides agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding on technical cooperation in water management, the statement said.

The Thai leader has expressed high interest in South Korea's project to refurbish four major rivers in a way that prevents floods, preserves water resources and promotes tourism along the waterways. She is scheduled to visit project sites while in South Korea.

Lee and Yingluck also appreciated that the two countries'

relations have steadily become more friendly and cooperative since they forged diplomatic ties in 1958, and agreed to make joint efforts to lift the relations to a "strategic partnership," the statement said.

They also welcomed the increase in bilateral trade volume to the all-time high of US$13.9 billion last year, and made further efforts to boost trade volume to $30 billion within the next five years by 2016, the statement said.

Yingluck expressed gratitude to Lee for South Korea's swift provision of relief aid during last year's flooding in Thailand, and praised Lee for his "low carbon, green growth" drive aimed at seeking economic development through environment friendly industries.

The two sides also agreed to share experience and technologies on green growth, it said. (Yonhap News)