President of Uzbekistan receives Prime Minister of South Korea

May 12, 2008

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov received the Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea Han Seung-Soo on May 12б 2008 at the Oqsaroy residence in Tashkent.

“The fact that the new Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea started his foreign trips from the official visit to Uzbekistan is an important event in bilateral relations,” said the head of the state. “We consider your visit as a sign of special attention to our strengthening cooperation.”

Han Seung-Soo said his country highly valued the relations with Uzbekistan and was interested in further expansion of cooperation.

Relations between Uzbekistan and South Korea are based on the principles of strategic partnership. President Islam Karimov visited Seoul in February 2008 and participated in the official inauguration ceremony of the newly elected President Lee Myung-Bak, as well as held a series of negotiations. Lee Myung-Bak stressed that the Republic of Korea considered Uzbekistan a traditionally friendly country and was interested in the development of relations. The sides have similar views on expanding political, economic and humanitarian cooperation, as well as international and regional issues.

The similarity of views of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Korea on political matters creates good preconditions for the development of cooperation on the international arena. Uzbekistan supported the candidacy of Ban Ki-Moon to the post of the UN Secretary-General. The Republic of Korea supports the entry of Uzbekistan to the World Trade Organization.

The Republic of Korea is a major trade and economic partner of Uzbekistan in Southeast Asia. In 2007, trade turnover between the two countries exceeded USD 850 million. This year the figure is expected to reach USD 1 billion. The development of business relationships and new conditions for increased flow of investments creates good opportunities for this. Moreover, during the Seoul summit, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov met the heads of Korean Air and Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS). At the negotiations, the agreement was reached on attracting investment into the economy of Uzbekistan in the amount of about USD 2 billion.

Friendship society Uzbekistan-Republic of Korea and the Korean Education Center play an important role in the development of humanitarian cooperation. The Uzbek State University of World Languages and Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages have Korean language and culture centers. Nine higher educational establishments of Uzbekistan have Korean Studies departments, while 112 schools teach Korean language. Relations between the science academies, ministries of health, education, labor and others are developing steadily.