S. Korean President Arrives in Qatar

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak arrived in the Qatari capital Doha Thursday after a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, where he secured pledges to ensure a stable supply of oil to the East Asian nation.

He is on a regional tour that will also include a stop in the United Arab Emirates.

Lee and King Abdullah met late Wednesday in Riyadh, where they agreed to "bolster bilateral relations in a variety of sectors," according to a statement by the Saudi news agency SPA that gave no further details.

Their meeting came a day after Lee held talks with Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and the head of state oil giant Saudi Aramco, Khalid al-Faleh.

"Regarding oil supply-demand, we will meet any request and additional demand from South Korea," Korean presidential press secretary Choe Geum-nak quoted Naimi as saying.

The kingdom also agreed to strengthen defense cooperation with South Korea.

Washington wants close ally Seoul to reduce purchases of Iranian crude in line with a US-led drive to sanction Tehran for its suspected nuclear weapons program.

South Korea, the world's fifth-largest oil importer, accounts for around 10 percent of Iran's oil exports but has yet to cut the imports of Iranian oil due to fears of economic damage.

In 2011, top world oil exporter Saudi Arabia sold 270 million barrels of oil to South Korea, accounting for 31.4 percent of Seoul's entire oil imports.