{"id":2202248,"date":"2023-09-14T18:07:10","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T09:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2202248"},"modified":"2023-09-15T12:20:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T03:20:10","slug":"south-korea-and-uzbekistan-put-money-troubles-aside-to-focus-on-developing-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/09\/south-korea-and-uzbekistan-put-money-troubles-aside-to-focus-on-developing-ties\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea and Uzbekistan put money troubles aside to focus on developing ties"},"content":{"rendered":"
South Korea\u2019s finance ministry came to an agreement with Uzbekistan last Friday on settling an outstanding payment of some $1 billion related to a joint gas project.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The announcement came after ROK finance minister Choo Kyung-ho visited the country last week to meet his counterpart, building on a decadeslong relationship between the two countries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While South Korea\u2019s finance ministry did not release any details on what the agreement entails, the high-level meeting reflects both sides\u2019 willingness to continue developing their partnership in various areas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Uz-Kor Gas Chemical joint venture was <\/span>launched in 2016<\/span><\/a> and the billion-dollar debt belongs to Uzbekistan’s state-owned gas company after unspecified foreign exchange issues led to payment delays.<\/span><\/p>\n Now that this issue has been resolved, South Korea and Uzbekistan can continue to deepen their relationship, <\/span>according to minister Choo<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A LONG RELATIONSHIP<\/b><\/p>\n South Korea and Uzbekistan formally established <\/span>diplomatic relations in 1992<\/span><\/a>, followed by the formation of a <\/span>strategic partnership in 2006<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In August this year, defense minister Lee Jong-sup became the highest-ranking South Korean defense official to visit <\/span>Tashkent<\/span><\/a>. He and his Uzbek counterpart agreed to \u201celevate cooperation in defense and the arms industry based on a bilateral \u201cspecial partnership\u201d and \u201chistorical and cultural bonds,\u201d according to the South Korean ministry.<\/span><\/p>\n The two countries have a mutual interest in each other. Uzbekistan is rich in resources, particularly in energy. Korean interest is directed at the joint implementation of projects in the oil, gas and chemical industries. With an <\/span>annual production<\/span><\/a> of 2.7 million metric tons of crude oil and 51 billion cubic meters of natural gas, Uzbekistan is an attractive destination for foreign investors.<\/span><\/p>\n South Korea\u2019s experience of an economic boom is particularly valuable for Uzbekistan, which hopes to carry out necessary reforms to accelerate socio-economic development, Mirzokhid Rakhimov, a contemporary historian at the Uzbek Academy of Sciences, wrote in a paper <\/span>published<\/span><\/a> last month.<\/span><\/p>\n Above economic interest, the two countries have long shared a close relationship, as depicted <\/span>by the frescoes featuring Korean envoys<\/span><\/a> in the historic Uzbek city of Samarkand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the 20th century, the Soviet Union forcibly relocated many ethnic Koreans in its border regions to Central Asia, and today, <\/span>some 200,000 people with Korean heritage<\/span><\/a> live in Uzbekistan.<\/span><\/p>\n In 1991<\/span><\/a>, South Korea was one of the first Asian countries to recognize Uzbekistan\u2019s independence, and from the year after, Uzbek and South Korean heads of state have met 16 times in addition to ministerial visits. This relationship goes beyond mere dialogue, taking a new turn in 2013 under the impetus of then-South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her “<\/span>Eurasia Initiative<\/span><\/a>.”<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe main idea of the initiative was to connect South Korea with the countries of Eurasia through building a single and unified system of transport, energy and trade networks,\u201d Rakhimov wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n