Yoon's K-Silk Road in Central Asia

The President of South Korea visited Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in recent days. The focus of attention was access to rare earth minerals, which are particularly needed by Korean manufacturers of semiconductors and accumulators. 

Tashkent (AsiaNews) - The President of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, recently concluded an itinerary of official meetings in Central Asia, where he visited Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Several comments appeared in the international press on the reasons for his presence in these three countries, where he discussed cooperation in the energy sector, the construction of chemical industries, and also in the health sector, education and training, and more.

In The Diplomat magazine, editor-in-chief Catherine Putz paid attention to a statement by the First Deputy Director of the National Security Administration, Kim Tae-hyo, published in the Korea Herald on the eve of the presidential trip, which stated that Seoul 'intends to connect its technical expertise with Central Asia's economic development potential in a partnership based on trust and active collaboration'.

In fact, the three major themes of the meetings were energy, technology and manufacturing, and at the same time South Korea is pursuing the K-Silk Road initiative for strategic partnership with the Central Asians, an alternative to the Chinese Belt & Road.

Yoon Suk-yeol has informed his counterparts Serdar Berdymukhamedov, Kasym-Žomart Tokaev and Šavkat Mirziyoyev of his intention to hold a summit in Seoul in 2025 in the C5+1 format with all five countries in the region, as has already been done in Europe and America.

According to Putz, this choice "intends to position Korea on a similar scale to Germany and the US", accelerating the investment of resources and development projects by bringing together the forces of all the players in an area of the world that is now the focus of attention.

The Japanese news agency Nikkei Asia believes that Yoon's main interest is access to rare earth minerals, which are particularly needed by Korean manufacturers of semiconductors and accumulators, those 'critical raw materials' that are increasingly necessary due to the complexity of the energy transition.

After the meeting with Tokaev in Astana, it was reported that 35 major contracts were concluded in this area, mainly in lithium research, marketing, and the delivery and export chain.

According to Sean O'Malley, a professor at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea, the expansion of diplomatic relations between Seoul and Central Asia can indeed lead to the realisation of very convenient deals for both sides.

"There are many advanced technology and infrastructure companies in Korea, whose investments would allow a great deal of development in the Central Asian countries," O'Malley argues, opening up access to the mining extractions they need for Korean companies themselves.

This objective was also highlighted by Yoon Suk-yeol's participation in the Tashkent business-forum with a visit to the U-Enter Centre for Innovative Entrepreneurship, opened last year with the support of the Korean International Cooperation Agency Koica, before travelling with his wife to contemplate the Uzbek wonders of Samarkand.

Another expert, Kim Yoong-Hyun, a lecturer at Handong Global University, is less optimistic about the fruits of the Korean president's visit, which in his opinion 'did not lead to very concrete and decisive results', and it will therefore be necessary to further deepen diplomatic relations and work hard to establish long-term agreements.