President Lee Myung-bak says South Korea and Mexico could develop into close allies based on cooperation in areas such as trade, climate change and energy.

At a meeting with ethnic Koreans residing in Mexico on Wednesday, Lee said that Mexico has extremely high potential for growth. He said increases in bilateral investment and trade volume would bring more opportunities to both nations.

He also asked the Korean residents to take pride in their Korean heritage.

Koreans first immigrated to Mexico in 1905 after Korea was forcibly annexed by Japan.