South Korean Overseas Minister Cho Tae-yul, fourth from left, poses with representatives of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, throughout the opening ceremony of the Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Discussion board in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
By Lee Hyo-jin
South Korea hosted the Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Discussion board in Seoul, Monday, specializing in discussing the main points of its “Okay-Silk Highway Initiative” with 5 Central Asian nations, based on the Ministry of Overseas Affairs.
South Korean Overseas Minister Cho Tae-yul led the discussion board, attended by representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
“The 5 Central Asian nations are key companions in our authorities’s efforts to turn out to be a pivotal world nation that contributes to world freedom, peace and prosperity. Final June, primarily based on our long-standing cooperation, we introduced the first-ever technique towards Central Asia, the Okay-Silk Highway Initiative,” Cho stated in his speech throughout the opening ceremony.
“Going ahead, we plan to additional develop this initiative in shut partnership with Central Asia, guided by the rules of companionship and creativity.”
Cho additionally known as for assist in South Korea’s efforts to deal with the threats posed by the army cooperation between North Korea and Russia, together with the North Korean troop deployments in assist of Russia’s warfare in opposition to Ukraine.
“This unlawful army cooperation between Russia and North Korea prolongs the struggling of harmless Ukrainian residents and poses a critical safety risk to South Korea and the worldwide group,” he stated. “I hope that our shared efforts for reconciliation and cooperation on the Korean Peninsula and in Central Asia will result in peace and shared prosperity throughout the Eurasian continent.”
The Yoon Suk Yeol authorities has been rising efforts to forge stronger ties with the Central Asian nations, consistent with the rising strategic significance of the area, which has wealthy reserves of pure fuel and key minerals together with uranium, lithium and tungsten.
In June, the federal government unveiled the Okay-Silk Highway Initiative, aimed toward strengthening partnerships with Central Asia throughout 4 key areas: useful resource growth, official growth help, people-to-people trade and public-private networking.
As the worldwide provide chain faces rising challenges because of the impression of the Ukraine warfare and instability within the Center East, Seoul believes that if South Korea, a expertise powerhouse, and Central Asian nations strengthen their cooperation in power assets, it could actually convey win-win outcomes for either side.
Throughout Monday’s occasion, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Overseas Minister Murat Nurtleu expressed his nation’s dedication to South Korea’s initiative.
“Strengthening partnerships with South Korea throughout a number of fronts is considered one of Kazakhstan’s high coverage priorities. We’ll proceed efforts to advance strategic partnerships between our nations inside the Okay-Silk Highway framework,” Nurtleu stated.
Discussions throughout the discussion board lined 5 core matters — provide chains, setting and local weather change, digital cooperation and tourism — aimed toward fostering collaboration forward of the inaugural Korea-Central Asia summit, slated for subsequent yr in Seoul.
On the sidelines of the discussion board, Cho held separate conferences together with his counterparts from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the place they mentioned methods to bolster bilateral ties.
