President Yoon Suk Yeol held another round of back-to-back summits with world leaders in New York on Thursday as he rampped up his push to promote South Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan.

Since his arrival in New York on Monday to attend the UN General Assembly, Yoon has held dozens of two-way summits in a last-ditch effort for the Expo bid.

In a morning summit, Yoon met with Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso and said that bilateral talks on the signing of a strategic economic cooperation agreement have been proceeding smoothly, according to his office.

Lasso said that the agreement would serve as an opportunity to expand cooperation in bilateral trade, investment, and supply chains.

Yoon also asked for Ecuador's interest and support for the state-run Korea Expressway Corp.'s participation in a project to construct a highway linking three cities in Ecuador.

Later in the day, Yoon met with Saint Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew.

Yoon asked the island nation to play a role to help expand cooperation between South Korea and the eastern Caribbean region as the country chairs the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States this year.

Drew expressed his expectation that the two countries' cooperation will deepen in the medical sector.

Yoon plans to hold more bilateral summits later in the day. (Yonhap)