Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won / Yonhap

Top diplomats of South Korea and African nations will hold a meeting in Seoul in June for final preparations for the upcoming summit of their leaders, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday.

The foreign ministers' meeting will take place on June 2 meant to check final details of the South Korea-Africa summit slated for June 4 and 5, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The decision to hold the ministerial meeting was made during a senior officials' meeting held earlier in the day in Seoul, which brought together South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won and senior diplomats from 44 African nations, including Mauritania, Benin and Gambia, it added.

During Monday's meeting, the two sides also shared the need to expand their economic cooperation through trade and investment, and discussed how to work more closely on such global challenges as health issues, energy, climate change and supply chain disruptions.

The planned summit aims to explore ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation on supply chains, economic relations and a wide range of issues, and strengthening the overall ties "dramatically" for co-prosperity as major partners, according to the ministry. (Yonhap)