SEOUL, November 10 (AJP) - South Korea's president has asked the head of Uzbekistan's Senate on Monday to give legislative backing to agreements the two countries signed in September, which Seoul is counting on to diversify its supply of critical minerals.
The two governments signed 13 agreements and memorandums of understanding when Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev made a state visit to Seoul in mid-September. Uzbekistan's presidential press service said the visit produced a portfolio of prospective joint projects worth about $12 billion.
President Lee Jae Myung received Tanzila Narbaeva, chairperson of the Senate of Uzbekistan's Oliy Majlis, at Cheong Wa Dae on Monday afternoon. Narbaeva, who is in South Korea on an official visit, is the first woman to lead the Uzbek Senate. She also chairs a commission that monitors practical cooperation between Uzbekistan and South Korea.
Lee asked Narbaeva for the Uzbek parliament's legislative support and for faithful implementation of what the leaders agreed, so that summit diplomacy leads to concrete results, Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Kim Seong-wan said in a written briefing. Lee said he hoped people in both countries would gain real benefits from closer cooperation.
The two countries, Lee said, were growing into an even more special strategic partnership after two rounds of summit diplomacy last year and, this year, the first Korea-Central Asia Summit and President Mirziyoyev's state visit.
Narbaeva conveyed President Mirziyoyev's warm greetings and thanked Lee, the South Korean government and the National Assembly for their hospitality. She agreed that the state visit had taken bilateral cooperation a step further and said she would play an active role in developing relations through cooperation between the two parliaments. Lee asked her to carry his special regards back to President Mirziyoyev.
The president also looked ahead to 2027, which marks the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 90th anniversary of the Koryo-saram settling in Central Asia. He proposed building a Koryo-saram history museum, among other projects, to commemorate the two countries' shared history and culture, and called for more active people-to-people exchanges. Narbaeva said the Uzbek parliament would actively support efforts to strengthen the bond between the two countries.
Koryo-saram, ethnic Koreans of the former Soviet Union, trace their presence in Central Asia to 1937, when Soviet authorities forcibly deported about 172,000 of them from the Russian Far East to what are now Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is home to the largest Koryo-saram community today, and the two governments agreed in September to designate 2027 as a Year of Culture and Mutual Exchanges.
At their bilateral talks on Sept. 14, Lee and President Mirziyoyev agreed to expand future-oriented, mutually beneficial cooperation in critical mineral supply chains, transport and logistics connectivity, artificial intelligence and digital transformation, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges.
Critical minerals are the raw materials that batteries, semiconductors and other advanced manufacturing depend on. Cooperation between the two countries is to cover the full chain from exploration to processing, built on a joint rare metals center.
The two sides also agreed on a framework to identify and finance projects in six industries the Uzbek government has prioritized, covering critical minerals, AI and data centers, smart cities, a dedicated industrial complex for South Korean companies, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, and food, beauty and cultural content.
Uzbekistan agreed to open a Korea desk inside its government to support South Korean companies, and the two countries are launching a joint business council for their private sectors.
Two days after the bilateral talks, Lee hosted the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan for the first Korea-Central Asia Summit. The six leaders adopted the Seoul Declaration and agreed to meet every two years, elevating a regional cooperation forum launched in 2007 to the level of heads of state.
The declaration says Central Asia's critical minerals could play an "important role" in diversifying supply chains and strengthening economic security.
Trade between South Korea and Uzbekistan reached $1.81 billion in 2025, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. South Korean exports accounted for $1.79 billion of that, while imports from Uzbekistan totaled $22 million.
The Uzbek government puts South Korean direct investment in the country at more than $8 billion and says more than 700 joint ventures backed by South Korean capital operate there.
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