South Korea Broadens Multifaceted Ties with Central Asia
South Korea Broadens Multifaceted Ties with Central Asia
Executive Summary:
- Seoul’s inaugural Korea–Central Asia Summit moved relations from bilateral channels to a regular regional framework, with the Seoul Declaration setting four cooperation priorities for the next 30 years.
- Driven by its need for critical minerals, Seoul used this framework to secure 116 business memoranda, tailored deals with each Central Asian state, and new cooperation mechanisms for industry, climate, and energy.
- Along the Middle Corridor, the K-Silk Road Cooperation Initiative could become a regional strategy linking Central Asian resources with Korean technology, investment, and European markets, requiring closer ties with Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Türkiye.
On September 16–17, Seoul hosted the inaugural Korea–Central Asia Summit under the slogan “Walking Together Toward the Future: Partnership for Trust and Prosperity.” It brought together South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan for the first leaders-level summit in this format (Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, September 17). The summit elevated a relationship that had previously been conducted primarily through bilateral channels and ministerial-level meetings. The participants agreed to make the summit a regular gathering, with the next meeting to be held in Kazakhstan in 2028 (The First Korea-Central Asia Summit 2026, accessed October 5).
Seoul has maintained diplomatic relations with all five Central Asian republics since the early 1990s and has developed particularly extensive economic ties with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan (European Journal of Korean Studies, 2022; Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accessed October 5). Established in 2007, the Korea–Central Asia Cooperation Forum has provided a multilateral platform for ministerial-level dialogue and cooperation (Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, November 15, 2007). Seoul unveiled the K-Silk Road Cooperation Initiative in 2024 as its first comprehensive diplomatic strategy toward Central Asia. The initiative is based on the principles of “cooperation, integration, and creation.” It emphasizes combining South Korea’s technological and digital capabilities with the region’s resources and development potential (The Korea Times, June 7, 2024; Centre for Eastern Studies, July 2, 2024).
South Korea’s industrial economy depends heavily on secure access to resources required for semiconductors, batteries, electric vehicles, renewable-energy technologies, and other advanced industries. Seoul has consequently sought to diversify its supply chains and develop partnerships with resource-rich countries (Korea JoongAng Daily, February 27, 2023). Central Asia possesses significant deposits of uranium, copper, rare and strategic metals, and other minerals that can support industrial value chains (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, April 28–29).
The September summit adopted the Seoul Declaration, which outlined four broad areas of cooperation for the next 30 years. These include institutionalizing the Korea–Central Asia partnership, advancing peace and stability, promoting innovation and prosperity, and strengthening connectivity through people and trust (Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, September 17). This approach provides a mechanism for coordinating cooperation across five countries whose economic structures, resource endowments, and development priorities differ considerably (Korea Foundation, March 12, 2025; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, November 24, 2025).
Kazakhstan is important for critical minerals, energy, logistics, and the Middle Corridor. Its geographic position between the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Caspian Sea, the South Caucasus, and Europe gives it a central role in Eurasian connectivity (The World Bank, February 11). On September 15, Seoul and Astana upgraded their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and signed 13 agreements and memoranda of understanding, while businesses announced commercial agreements worth about $19 billion (The Korea Times, September 15; Trend News Agency, September 16).
Uzbekistan offers the region’s largest consumer and labor markets and has pursued an ambitious program of industrial modernization. Tashkent’s cooperation with South Korea already spans infrastructure, transportation, critical minerals, artificial intelligence (AI), digitalization, and manufacturing (The Korea Herald, June 21; Ministry of Digital Technologies of Uzbekistan, August 27). Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s September 13–16 state visit to Seoul yielded 13 agreements, while Tashkent announced $12 billion in investment and trade deals, alongside an $8 billion partnership program with the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Asia News Network, September 15; Dunyo Information Agency, September 16).
Turkmenistan’s engagement with Seoul focuses on energy and large-scale infrastructure. During the summit, Korean and Turkmen businesses exchanged numerous agreements covering investment, trade, energy, the chemical and industrial sectors, railway transport, science, technology, AI, environmental protection, and water resource management (Turkmenistan Golden Age; The Korea Herald, September 16).
The 17 agreements with Tajikistan covered textiles, chemicals, machinery, AI, digital industries, railways, logistics, energy, and critical minerals, while the 18 agreements with Kyrgyzstan focused on critical minerals, halal markets, infrastructure, livestock technology, energy, and intellectual property (The Korea Times, September 16). Seoul’s decision to create a regional framework allows these smaller economies to participate in projects and mechanisms that might otherwise remain limited to bilateral relations.
During the summit, South Korea and the five Central Asian states launched a broader climate, energy, and environmental cooperation mechanism. This creates an additional avenue for Korean companies to contribute technologies related to renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean energy, environmental management, and potentially hydrogen and other emerging fields (Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, September 17). They also established the Central Asian Five plus Korea (C5+Korea) Industry Ministers’ Meeting as a regular consultative mechanism. A total of 116 business memoranda of understanding were signed across the Korea–Central Asia business events, including 19 that were exchanged at the Korea–Central Asia Business Summit. These covered projects ranging from smart-city development to rare-metals technology and industrial equipment (Korea PRO, September 15; Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, September 18).
Central Asia’s geopolitical and economic importance has increased as the region has emerged as a key component of Eurasian connectivity. The Middle Corridor connects the PRC with Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, the South Caucasus, Türkiye, and Europe, creating a multimodal network that is attracting growing investment and policy attention (Baku Dialogues, October 18, 2022; Euronews, September 16). This intercontinental trade artery is becoming a crucial pillar of South Korea’s engagement with Central Asia. More efficient transport connections can facilitate trade between Korea and Central Asian markets, while improved logistics can support the movement of Central Asian resources and manufactured products to international markets (Seoul City, June 18).
Outlining his vision of a “New Silk Road,” Lee said that Seoul would send trade delegations to the region, support digital customs systems to reduce non-tariff barriers, and introduce “Korea Desks” in all five Central Asian countries to help Korean companies address local challenges. “If we walk together, the road from 1,500 years ago will reopen as a new Silk Road,” Lee added in his speech at the inaugural Korea–Central Asia Business Summit (The Korea Times, September 16). Building on this broader vision of connectivity, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called on South Korean companies to participate more actively in developing the Middle Corridor. He also highlighted the potential to integrate the Middle Corridor with the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) initiative and combine the two routes into an end-to-end transport and logistics chain connecting Korea, Central Asia, and Europe (Kazinform; Trend News Agency, September 16).
Recent assessments by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Transport Forum (ITF) have highlighted infrastructure constraints, limited multimodal capacity, inconsistent regulatory systems, and border-crossing inefficiencies along parts of the Middle Corridor (OECD, November 24, 2025, February 3;ITF, July 24, 2025). These challenges also create opportunities for technology-oriented partners such as South Korea. Seoul can contribute by deploying emerging technologies and developing cutting-edge infrastructure in states along the Middle Corridor (The Center for Analysis of International Relations, July 2025).
As the transit and logistics partnership expands along the Middle Corridor, Seoul will need to deepen cooperation with the other transit countries in the trans-Caspian trade network. The South Caucasus could become a critical link in a Korea–Central Asia–Europe connectivity chain. Azerbaijan would provide the key maritime bridge across the Caspian Sea, while Georgia and Türkiye would connect the route to European markets. Integrating the Middle Corridor with TRIPP, alongside emerging trans-Caspian green-energy projects, could further expand this network beyond trade and logistics to include energy and digital connectivity (see EDM, July 23, 2025; The Astana Times, June 30). The Organization of Turkic States and the Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia and Azerbaijan (C6) could offer Seoul additional avenues for institutionalized engagement with countries along the Middle Corridor (see EDM, February 19, 2025, January 21).
The inaugural Korea–Central Asia Summit marked a shift in Seoul’s engagement with the region from predominantly bilateral relations toward a more coordinated regional framework. By bringing all five Central Asian states into a regular leaders-level mechanism, South Korea has created a platform through which its economic, technological, and connectivity initiatives can be pursued on a regional basis. This could allow the K-Silk Road Cooperation Initiative to evolve from a framework for bilateral economic engagement into a broader regional strategy, linking Central Asian resources and production networks with Korean technology, investment, and European markets.
