Chavez, who has mentioned plans to visit North Korea several times, told reporters the trip would be about bilateral agreements in technology and science. He did not specify a date.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (right)

The two countries forged diplomatic ties in 1974 and have strengthened their relationship since Chavez took office in 1998. In September last year, Yang Hyong-sop, the vice president of the North Korea’s Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, visited Caracas and stressed the need for the two countries to respond jointly to “American pressure and threats.” About a month later, a North Korean economic delegation visited the south American country. Guillermo Garcia Ponce, a former leader of Venezuela’s Communist Party has reportedly visited North Korea several times, and Pyongyang will reportedly open an embassy in Caracas in the near future, a government official said.

Some experts say the two countries could form an anti-American front while exchanging oil for missiles. A former U.S. Army officer said missile technology was a likely tradable good. He quipped the North “is unlikely to export Kimchi,” Korea’s traditional pickled side dish.

The Venezuelan government has been boosting its military strength lately, buying 100,000 Russian-made AK-103 rifles along with a license to manufacture them and expressing interest in buying Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets. Chavez has said he wants to buy more weapons to repel a U.S. invasion.

(englishnews@chosun.com )