The leaders of South Korea and Switzerland will hold a summit in Seoul on Wednesday to discuss bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, science, security and other areas, the presidential office here said.

President Park Geun-hye and her Swiss counterpart, Johann Schneider-Ammann, are also expected to discuss joint efforts to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programs through the strict enforcement of international sanctions and other means.

The Swiss president's two-day trip to South Korea, which begins Wednesday, was arranged on the invitation of Park. Schneider-Ammann is the first Swiss president to visit Seoul since the two countries opened diplomatic ties in 1963.

The agenda for the bilateral summit is also expected to include the possible economic ramifications of Britain's recent decision to quit the European Union, although Switzerland is not part of the 28-member bloc, observers said.

During his stay here, Schneider-Ammann will attend a session of the South Korea-Switzerland committee on science and technology, and a separate bilateral forum on biotechnology.

Last year, two-way trade reached $3.94 billion, with South Korea exporting $1.48 billion worth of ships, cars and petrochemical products to Switzerland and importing $2.45 billion worth of watches, gold and medicine from the European state. (Yonhap)