South Korea Hosts Inaugural Central Asia Summit to Strengthen Strategic Ties

South Korea is hosting the first Korea-Central Asia Summit, bringing together the heads of state from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The summit focuses on enhancing partnerships in critical minerals, supply chains, artificial intelligence, and energy. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun stated that the meeting serves as a foundation for the next thirty years, leveraging three decades of reciprocal trust since diplomatic relations were established in 1992.

President Lee Jae Myung is conducting a series of bilateral meetings alongside the main summit. Following a meeting with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Monday, President Lee is scheduled to meet with President Serdar Berdimuhamedow of Turkmenistan and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan on Tuesday. The talks with Turkmenistan will include the exchange of 13 agreements and memorandums of understanding. The discussions with Kazakhstan aim to upgrade the bilateral relationship to a future oriented comprehensive strategic partnership, focusing on economic security and cutting edge industries, followed by the exchange of 13 bilateral MOUs.

Foreign Minister Cho highlighted the strategic importance of these ties for the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, noting that the five Central Asian nations have supported denuclearization. The cooperation also emphasizes people to people ties, involving approximately 310,000 ethnic Koreans living in Central Asia and 150,000 Central Asian students and workers in South Korea. Trade between the regions exceeded 10 billion US dollars for the first time last year.