President Moon Jae-in has named two ruling party lawmakers as his special envoys to Ecuador to attend the inauguration ceremony of President Lenin Moreno, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday.

The envoys, Rep. Park Young-sun and Rep. Jo Seoung-lae of the ruling Democratic Party, were set to take off Monday and are scheduled to return Friday.

“Ecuador is our key ally in Latin America that has continuously supported our stance on various issues. We seek to expand on our amicable relationship,” the presidential office said in a press release.

President Moon himself had visited the country in 2007 to attend to the presidential inauguration on behalf of then President Roh Moo-hyun. Moon was the presidential chief of staff.

Reps. Park and Jo are the eighth envoys named since the president came into office last week. The others include envoys to the United States, Japan, China and Russia.

Ecuadorian President Moreno, a former vice president and a disability activist, was elected early last month. The inauguration ceremony is slated for Wednesday.

The envoys are to hold meetings with Ecuadorian high-ranking officials and discuss on business cooperation, including a bilateral free trade pact launched in August 2015. It is the first free trade pact Ecuador is proceeding with an Asian country. The two countries first established diplomatic relations in 1962.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)