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| ▲ President Yoon Suk Yeol (R) and first lady Kim Keon Hee bid farewell while boarding the presidential plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, in this file photo taken June 24, 2023, after a three-day state visit to Vietnam. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) Yoon-Central Asia trip
(LEAD) Yoon to pay state visits to Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan next week
(ATTN: UPDATES with details)
SEOUL, June 7 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol will pay state visits to Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan next week, focusing on expanding cooperation in critical minerals and other key sectors, his office said Friday.
Yoon will embark on the six-day trip Monday, accompanied by first lady Kim Keon Hee, and visit the resource-rich Central Asian nations through June 15, according to Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo.
"Central Asia, which was the center of the ancient Silk Road, is a strategic point connecting Europe and Asia," Kim said during a press briefing. "The strategic importance is growing further as the global polycrisis spreads due to factors such as the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East."
On the first leg of the trip, Yoon will arrive in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on Monday and hold a summit with the country's President Serdar Berdimuhamedow the same day.
The two leaders will discuss ways to increase cooperation between the countries and later attend a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony as well as a joint press conference.
On Tuesday, Yoon and the first lady will travel to Astana, Kazakhstan, for a three-day state visit that will include a meeting with ethnic Koreans and South Korean residents, a summit with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on deepening the strategic partnership between the two countries, and a state luncheon.
On Thursday, the president will head to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, also for a three-day state visit that will include a summit with the country's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and a South Korea-Uzbekistan business forum where he will give a keynote address.
Kim, the deputy national security adviser, said the visits will help create new business opportunities for South Korean companies, such as in the energy plant sector in Turkmenistan, strengthen partnerships with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in critical mineral supply chains, and diversify cooperation to new areas, such as climate change response, and science and technology.
He also announced the launch of a new initiative by the Yoon administration, called the "South Korea-Central Asia K-Silk Road," centering on a vision to jointly realize freedom, peace and prosperity, by following the three basic principles of accompaniment, fusion and creation.
Those three principles, in turn, will be realized through the ROAD system, whose name derives from the K-Silk Road, and stands for resource, official development assistance, accompany and drive, he said.
Moreover, the government will establish a summit involving the leaders of South Korea and all five Central Asian countries, including Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and host the inaugural meeting next year, Kim said.
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