Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha asked the Maldives on Thursday to support a South Korean minister's bid for the top post at the World Trade Organization (WTO), Kang's office said.

She made the appeal during phone talks with her Maldivian counterpart, Abdulla Shahid, as Seoul's Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee is running for the WTO director generalship in the final round of the selection process, with the result expected to be announced early next month.

In Thursday's talks, they also discussed cooperation in tackling COVID-19 and ways to enhance their bilateral relations, including the resumption of people-to-people exchanges amid the pandemic, the ministry said in a release. (Yonhap)