President-elect Park Geun-hye and U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday agreed to meet soon as they discussed South Korea-U.S. ties and cooperation in dealing with the tension in Northeast Asia following the recent launch of a long-range rocket by North Korea.

The two leaders talked over the phone when Obama made a congratulatory phone call to Park, who picked it up from her party headquarters in Yeouido in Seoul.

“Thank you President Obama for issuing a congratulatory statement after my election victory and also for directly calling me,” Park told Obama, proceeding to congratulate Obama for his victory in the U.S. presidential election held in November.

Park also gave her condolences for the shooting spree at an elementary school in Connecticut last week that left 28 dead.

Obama noted that the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement has led to increased exchanges in trade, education, and culture between the two allies, according to Cho Yoon-sun, a Saenuri Party spokesperson. The two leaders also agreed to “meet as soon as possible” to discus not only the bilateral relations but also global issues including weapons of mass destruction and the environment.

“The U.S.-ROK alliance serves as a linchpin of peace and security in the Asia Pacific and our two nations share a global partnership with deep economic, security, and people-to-people ties,” Obama said in the statement released by the White House after Park’s election victory on Wednesday.

Park’s phone call with Obama is the latest in a series of congratulatory phone calls from world leaders. Angela Merkel, Germany’s first female chancellor, was the first foreign head of state to call Park.

“Today is a great day for women in many areas of Asia,” Merkel told Park in a phone call on Thursday evening. Park in turn praised Merkel’s leadership in stabilizing Germany’s economy and handling the eurozone crisis.

U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also called and congratulated Park on Thursday. The two agreed that the U.N. and South Korea should cooperate in relieving tension on the Korean Peninsula and improving inter-Korean relations.

By Samuel Songhoon Lee (songhoon@heraldcorp.com)