On November 30, 2021, in Dushanbe, a meeting was held between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Ruslan Kazakbaev and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea Chung Eui-young on the sidelines of the 14th Central Asia – Republic of Korea Cooperation Forum (CARK).

During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the current state of bilateral relations and discussed the prospects for investment, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation in the light of bilateral agreements reached as a result of high-level visits. The priority of continuing systematic work in the current economic and post-pandemic situation was emphasized.

The interlocutors touched upon the issue of opening direct flights, implementing projects in agriculture, education, healthcare and attracting targeted investments from South Korea. The Korean side supported the proposals of the Kyrgyz side, voiced at the site of the «Central Asia + Republic of Korea» Cooperation Forum, on strengthening interaction on preventing glacier melting, sharing knowledge between medical workers in the fight against the pandemic. Within the framework of cooperation in the field of education, the Korean side informed about the decision to increase the quota for students from Kyrgyzstan to 36 people.

Ruslan Kazakbaev stressed that for the short and medium term, the priority is to bring investment, trade and economic cooperation to a higher quality level. It was suggested that the Korean side considers signing an agreement on cooperation between phytosanitary services to create conditions for the export of agricultural products from Kyrgyzstan to South Korea. A request was also expressed to include Uzgen rice in the import quota of the Republic of Korea and to reduce import customs rates for Kyrgyz honey.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic expressed gratitude to the Government of the Republic of Korea for the previously provided humanitarian assistance in the fight against COVID-19.

As part of the upcoming celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Korea, an agreement was reached on holding joint events timed to coincide with this significant date, including the organization of mutual visits at the highest and high level, business forums and days of culture to raise the Kyrgyz -Korean relations to a new level.

The parties noted the relevance of the topics on the agenda of the «Central Asia – Republic of Korea» Cooperation Forum and expressed their readiness to take an active part in the implementation of specific projects within the framework of the Forum and the «New Northern Policy» initiative aimed at ensuring sustainable development and prosperity of the Central Asian region.

Upon completion of the conversation, Minister Ruslan Kazakbaev invited the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea Chung Eui-young, to pay a visit to Kyrgyzstan at any convenient time in order to strengthen political, economic, cultural and humanitarian ties between the two countries.