ST. PAUL — Gov. Mark Dayton is off on a nine-day trade mission to South Korea that also includes several stops in Japan.

Dayton left Friday en route to Japan, where he’ll stop in Tokyo to attend the Midwest-U.S. Japan Association Conference. Minnesota is hosting that meeting next year. He’ll also promote Minnesota trade and investment at meetings in Kyoto and Osaka.

After that Dayton will meet up in Seoul, South Korea, with the 24-member Minnesota delegation that includes business, agricultural and academic leaders. South Korea is the state’s sixth-largest export market.

This is the Democratic governor’s first trade mission. His predecessors including Jesse Ventura and Tim Pawlenty both made regular foreign trade missions.