Korea holds inaugural Central Asia summit, adopts Seoul Declaration on minerals, energy and AI

Seoul hosted the inaugural Korea-Central Asia Summit last Wednesday, with 74 bilateral agreements and MOUs signed and one unified “Seoul Declaration” given. This diplomatic gathering marked the first time all five Central Asian states — Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan — met in Korea, following a similar format to the United States’ “C5+1” initiative, last held in 2025. The summit represents a significant elevation in relations between Korea and Central Asia. Korea first recognized the Central Asian states’ independence from the Soviet Union in 1992, and has been a consistent source of foreign direct investment (FDI) since. At the end of last year, South Korea contributed $6.4 billion in FDI to the region. An all head-of-state level gathering signals a new era of relations. The region’s ties to Korea extend beyond the political to the personal as well. Central Asia is home to nearly a third of a million ethnic Koreans deported to the region in 1937 by Joseph Stalin, then leader of the Soviet Union. Today, around 100,000 of their descenda

In the first Central Asia-South Korea leaders summit, energy and critical minerals were top of the agenda. 

Korea and five Central Asian countries adopted the Seoul Declaration Wednesday, outlining a vision for cooperation over the next 30 years as they elevate their multilateral partnership to the leaders’ level. Announced at the inaugural multilateral summit, the declaration institutionalizes a biennial leaders’ summit and sets out cooperation across four broad areas — partnership, peace, prosperity and people-to-people exchanges — to encompass supply chains, critical minerals, energy, trade and investment, emerging technologies and security. The summit in Seoul brought together President Lee Jae Myung and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, representing the latest step in upgrading a cooperation framework that began at the vice-ministerial level in 2007 and was elevated to the ministerial level in 2019. Kazakhstan expressed its willingness to host the second summit in Astana in 2028, with the other participating countries agreeing to the proposal. The declaration established a framework for more systematic economic cooperation, including a

Korea’s first multilateral summit with the five Central Asian countries marks an important step toward institutionalizing cooperation with the resource-rich region at the highest political level, reflecting its growing strategic importance amid intensifying global competition over supply chains, a Central Asia expert said Wednesday. The evaluation comes as the inaugural Korea-Central Asia Summit, hosted by President Lee Jae Myung in Seoul, brought together the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, elevating a cooperation framework that has been maintained at the ministerial level since the Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum was launched in 2007 to the leaders' level. Opening the summit, Lee said the world is undergoing a major transformation in which economic and security issues are increasingly intertwined across supply chains, energy, markets and technology. “The ‘Silk Road spirit’ of Central Asia, which connected people, technology and culture between East and West, is more necessary than ever,” Lee said. "The strengths of Korea and Ce

Korea signed a combined 35 agreements and memorandums of understanding (MOU) with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday, spanning energy, investment, security and cultural cooperation, as Seoul hosted the first Korea-Central Asia Summit this week. President Lee Jae Myung met Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, where the two leaders signed 17 agreements to expand textile, chemical and machinery exports and lay the groundwork for cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI) and digital industries. The agreements deepen ties in railways, transportation and logistics, as well as intellectual property, energy and industrial safety. The two sides also moved to explore cooperation on critical minerals and the green transition. The agreements also strengthen customs and police cooperation against transnational crime, while expanding exchanges in personnel administration, anti-corruption efforts and education. "Korea and Tajikistan have steadily developed cooperation since 1992, and I find it deeply meaningful that this visit has allowed our two countries to establish

Korea and five Central Asian nations are set to hold their first-ever summit in Seoul on Wednesday, elevating nearly two decades of institutional cooperation to the leadership level as both sides seek closer ties in critical minerals, supply chains and Eurasian connectivity. Korean President Lee Jae Myung will host Kazakhstan's Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstan's Sadyr Japarov, Tajikistan's Emomali Rahmon, Turkmenistan's Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Uzbekistan's Shavkat Mirziyoyev for the meeting under the slogan “Walking Together Toward the Future: Partnership for Trust and Prosperity.” The six leaders are expected to adopt a joint Seoul Declaration outlining an expanded framework for cooperation. Why Central Asia matters now The summit comes at a time of intensifying global interest in Central Asia. With a combined population of some 80 million, the region's energy reserves, mineral wealth and position at the crossroads of major continental trade routes have drawn a wave of summit-level diplomacy from the world's largest economies in recent years. The result is a new diplomatic norm