Korea and Central Asia Relations
Upon the foundations of mutually beneficial economic structure and cultural similarity,
Korea and the five Central Asian Countries have forged a remarkably cooperative partnership since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992. Since 1992, there have been 14 the ROK-Kazakhstan, 2 the ROK-Kyrgyzstan, 3 the ROK-Tajikistan, 5 the ROK-Turkmenistan, and 16 the ROK-Uzbekistan summits.
Remarkable progress for comprehensive and diversified regional cooperation has been made through the annual Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum headed by Vice Foreign Ministers since 2007.
Above all, Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum Secretariat, a permanent Secretariat established for the purpose of facilitating and enhancing multilateral cooperation between Korea-Central Asia was officially launched under the Korea Foundation on July 10, 2017.
The export from Korea to five Central Asian countries marked 8.6 billion US$, while the import was 1.3 billion US$. The accumulative sum of Korean investment to Central Asia recorded an amount of 6.4 billion US$ (2025).
Approximately 310,000 Korean descendants are residing in the Russian and Central Asian region (Kazakhstan 120,000, Kyrgyzstan 18,000, Tajikistan 700, Turkmenistan 700, and Uzbekistan 172,000). It will be marked 90th anniversary of the settlement of Korea Diaspora in Central Asia in 2027.
[Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea]