Korea is about to meet a Central Asia it thinks it knows
In a few weeks’ time, the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will arrive in Seoul for the Korea-Central Asia Summit hosted by Korea. My only worry is that the summit would produce another collection of bilateral agreements, photographs and carefully worded declarations instead of real partnership. Korea’s interest in Central Asia is not new. Korean…
In a few weeks, the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will be in Seoul for the Korea-Central Asia Summit, hosted by the country. The main concern is that the summit might result in more bilateral agreements, photographs, and carefully chosen declarations rather than genuine partnership. Korea's interest in Central Asia is not a recent development; Korean companies have been involved in various projects in the region for many years. These include energy, construction, transport infrastructure, and the pursuit of critical minerals.
The region, which is home to a large ethnic Korean population, presents a unique human and historical dimension to the relations. However, Seoul's strategic vision has been rather limited. Policy makers and think tanks in South Korea often view Central Asia as a collection of separate opportunities, such as uranium and lithium in Kazakhstan, gas in Turkmenistan, infrastructure in Uzbekistan, hydropower in Tajikistan, and development projects elsewhere.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- Korea is about to meet a Central Asia it thinks it knows koreatimes.co.kr
