The Republic of Korea is setting up a special consortium of the country's largest companies to develop oil and gas fields on the Turkmen shelf of the Caspian Sea, the South Korean minister of economic knowledge, Li Young Ho, said during a meeting with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in Astana on July 6.

According to the Turkmen president, Turkmenistan offers three promising fields in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea to the South Korean partners with "all necessary information about these fields."

The South Korean business delegation will visit Ashgabat coming August, the minister said.

Li Young Ho also said the Korean part of the bilateral intergovernmental commission on cooperation with Turkmenistan has been approved. It consists of 17 people, including the minister of economic knowledge.

The official visit of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to Soul is scheduled for the autumn 2008, the Turkmenistan.ru correspondent reports. The president of Turkmenistan and the president of South Korea are also due to meet during the forthcoming Olympic Games in Beijing.