Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea will visit South America this week on a trip aimed at boosting bilateral cooperation in the education sector, the ministry said Sunday.

Hwang, who doubles as deputy prime minister for social affairs, is scheduled to depart later Sunday for a week-long trip through Brazil, Peru and Colombia.

His visit is a follow-up to President Park Geun-hye's four-nation tour of South America in April, which included a stop in Chile.

"Deputy Prime Minister Hwang's South America visit is a good opportunity to expand exchanges among the youth, encourage South Korean teachers to work in Central and South America and share the South Korean education system's development experience," said Kim young-gon, an official handling international cooperation at the Education Ministry.

In Brazil, Hwang plans to hold talks with his counterpart, Renato Janine Ribeiro, on concluding the next-stage agreement on expanding student exchanges in the sciences and engineering departments.

From Brazil, Hwang is scheduled to fly to Peru, where he will pay a courtesy call on President Ollanta Humala and hold talks with his counterpart, Jaime Saavedra Chanduvi, on sending South Korean teachers to the South American nation and providing education consulting in the ICT sector.

On the final leg of his trip, Hwang will visit Colombia to sign a memorandum of understanding with his counterpart, Gina Parody, and ask that she help more Colombian students study in South Korea. (Yonhap)