Yoon: "Strengthening Strategic Partnership with Three Central Asian Countries on Mineral Resources, Energy, and Infrastructure"

President Yoon Suk-yeol is speaking at the Cabinet meeting held on the 18th at the Yongsan Presidential Office Building in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

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President Yoon Suk-yeol evaluated the achievements of his recent tour of the three Central Asian countries on the 18th, stating, "We have firmly established strategic partnerships centered on mineral resources, energy, and infrastructure with the three key countries in the Central Asia region, and have also achieved concrete results." President Yoon made state visits in succession to Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, starting on the 10th, and returned home early on the 16th.

At a Cabinet meeting held at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the same day, President Yoon said, "Amid the recent energy and food security and supply chain crises exacerbated by the Ukraine war and instability in the Middle East, the geopolitical and geoeconomic importance of Central Asia, which is rapidly growing based on abundant natural resources and development potential, is increasing further." He added, "Before this tour, the government announced Korea's first Central Asia-specialized diplomatic strategy, the 'K-Central Asia Silk Road Cooperation Initiative,' which was actively welcomed by all Central Asian leaders."

President Yoon explained, "In resource-rich Turkmenistan, a cooperation agreement was signed between our companies and Turkmen state-owned enterprises regarding gas fields and petrochemical plants." He added, "Soon, our companies will be poised to secure orders worth billions of dollars, and we also had in-depth discussions on additional large-scale contracts." In Kazakhstan, the largest economy in Central Asia, a government-level Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation in the power industry was signed, securing a foundation for Korean companies to enter large projects such as power plant modernization and combined cycle gas power generation.

President Yoon emphasized, "In Uzbekistan, Korea's first high-speed rail export contract was concluded, setting a new milestone for Korean-style high-speed rail to enter the global market." He continued, "MOUs on cooperation in critical mineral supply chains were signed with both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, establishing a full-cycle partnership covering exploration, development, refining, production, and utilization of key minerals such as uranium for nuclear fuel, lithium for secondary batteries, and molybdenum and tungsten for semiconductor materials." He also stated that cooperation will continue to ensure that Korean companies can participate preferentially in the development and production of minerals whose economic feasibility is confirmed in the future.

He added, "This Central Asia tour also served as an opportunity to secure the firm support of Central Asian countries on the North Korean nuclear issue, the greatest security threat facing the Republic of Korea." He reported, "The three Central Asian leaders, who have faithfully implemented the 'Central Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty' and have been exemplary in leading regional peace and the global non-proliferation regime, unanimously condemned North Korea's illegal nuclear and missile development and pledged to continue faithfully implementing the UN's sanctions resolutions against North Korea."

President Yoon said, "The Central Asia tour signifies that the government's global pivotal diplomacy vision has progressed and been realized to a considerable extent, following the May last year Korea-Pacific Island Countries Summit, the September Korea-ASEAN Summit, and the early this month Korea-Africa Summit." He added, "The future vision and cooperation plans of the government's Indo-Pacific strategy, Korea-ASEAN solidarity initiative, and K-Central Asia Silk Road Cooperation Initiative received active support and welcome from the 10 ASEAN countries, Pacific Island leaders, 48 African countries, and the five Central Asian nations."

In particular, President Yoon mentioned that the norms of the international trade order are being fundamentally shaken, and economic supply chains between countries and regions are becoming thoroughly segmented. He emphasized, "We must accurately read the Great Game that governs the global order and have a clear Grand Strategy that we should advocate."

Furthermore, he said, "We have made great efforts to expand the scope of Korea's global pivotal diplomacy to the Central Asian stage and to secure a broader playing field where our companies and citizens can thrive." He added, "Especially, we will pioneer the 'Opportunity K-Silk Road' so that startups can boldly challenge themselves and continue innovation and growth." He urged all ministries to meticulously ensure that follow-up measures in each field of the tour are properly implemented.

President Yoon concluded, "The '1st Korea-Central Asia Summit,' scheduled to be held next year, received support and welcome from our Central Asian leaders and heads of state." He added, "Please make every effort to ensure that this summit launches substantively in line with the cooperation initiative."

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