South Korea and Russia agreed Friday to strengthen meteorological cooperation for the upcoming Winter Olympics that the two countries will host separately in 2014 and 2018, South Korea's weather agency said.
Under the agreement, the two sides will share technology related to making weather forecasts, exchange meteorological experts and jointly take part in international programs seeking to boost meteorological cooperation, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said in a statement.
The agreement came during the countries' seventh round of meteorological cooperation talks held in St. Petersburg from Wednesday to Friday, the KMA said.
South Korean weather authorities plan to take part in the Forecast and Research in the Olympic Sochi Testbed (FROST) program launched last year by the World Meteorological Organization with an aim to help Russia make accurate forecasts during the 2014 Winter Olympics hosted by its resort city of Sochi.
Other nations participating in the program include Canada, the United States, China, Finland and Austria.
The KMA said it will also send its weather forecasters to Sochi during the Olympics to learn the precise forecasting technologies needed for the Games.
Starting in 2015, Russian weather forecasters will also visit South Korea and help the country's weather authorities prepare for the 2018 Olympics to be hosted by the South Korean city of PyeongChang. (Yonhap News)
