Uzbek envoy presents citations to leaders of The Korea Post, two English dailies

On June 23, 2023 at the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekisan in Seoul, Ambassador Vitaly Fen of Uzbekistan presented a Certificates of Honor to three noted journalists of the Republic of Korea.
The recipients were Publisher-Chairman Lee Kyung-sik of The Korea Post media, CEO Choi Jin-young of The Korea Herald and CEO Oh Young-jin of The Korea Times.

In the letter of citation, Ambassador Fen said that the Certificates of Honor were presented to the three media presentatives in appreciation of their contribution to the effective promotion of Uzbekistan's domestic and foreign policies to the international community.

Ambassador Fen is a legendary diplomat between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The Republic of Korea made herself the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to recognize independence of Uzbekistan in December 1991 and in this process Ambassador Fen is known to have played a pivotal role and the diplomatic relations between the two countries were formally established in January 1992. Since then, the bilateral relations have grown rapidly and steadfastly since that time. The friendly realtions have grown in the political, economic, educational and various other spheres between the two countries.

The Republic of Korea and the Republic of Uzbekistan formally established diplomatic relations in January 1992. Soon thereafter Korea opened her resident Embassy in Tashkent and Uzbekistan opened its embassy in Seoul. And, of course, the first-term ambassador from Uzbekistan was H.E. Ambassador Vitaliy Fen.

The then President Islam Karimov made eight official visits to Korea, in 1992, 1995, 1999, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015. During his visit to Korea in 2006, President Karimov was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Seoul, by then Mayor of Seoul Lee Myung-bak (who later became the President of the Republic of Korea).

In 1994, President Kim Young-sam visited Uzbekistan. In 2004 President Roh Moo-hyun visited Uzbekistan. His successor, Lee Myung-bak, visited Uzbekistan twice in 2009 and 2011. President Park Geun-hye visited Uzbekistan in 2014 where she and President Karimov signed several agreements to strengthen economic and investment cooperation and technology exchange between the two countries.

All glad developments between the two countries occurred much thanks to the unreserved efforts made by Ambassador Fen, an ethnic Korean in Uzbekistan, who literally devoted his entire life to the promotion of relations, friendship and cooperation between his country, Uzbekistan, and South Korea.

In 2017, President Karimov's successor, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, South Korea for a four-day visit, where he met with Korean President Moon Jae-in. At a ceremony of a Korea-Uzbekistan business forum, a wide range of issues on bilateral agenda were discussed including the prospects for further development of interstate relations in political, trade-economic, financial-investment, scientific-technical, cultural-humanitarian and other spheres, exchange views on regional and international issues.

During his visit, Presdient Mirziyoyev was also awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Seoul by mayor Park Won-soon. In 2019, President Moon Jae-in visited Uzbekistan on a four-day state visit, where he met with President Miriziyoyev. Including discussions on advancing bilateral ties, President Moon addressed the joint session of Oliy Majlis and attended the opening ceremony of the House of Korean Culture and Art in Tashkent.

Uzbekistan is Korea's largest trading partner in Central Asia. Following the 2005 Andijan unrest, which led to the United States and European Union placing trade and economic sanctions against Uzbekistan, Korea along with China, Japan and Russia, continued economic and trade relations with Uzbekistan.

In 2006, Korea and Uzbekistan signed a declaration on strategic partnership, which they agreed to develop and deepen further in a new Joint Declaration signed during President Park Geun-hye's visit to Tashkent in 2014.

During President Karimov's visit to Korea in 2015, a total of 60 documents relating to trade, investment, economic and technical cooperation and other spheres were signed, at a total worth of US$7.7 billion. In 2015, bilateral trade turnover between the countries exceeded US$1.7 billion, corresponding to 50 percent of South Korea's trade with Central Asian republics.

In 2016, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn of Korea visited Uzbekistan, where he joined the then Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in the inauguration of the largest bilateral cooperation project, the Ustyurt Gas Chemical Complex in Karakalpakstan. The cost of the project was US$4 billion.

Korea and Uzbekistan also founded the joint venture LG CNS Uzbekistan in 2015, to support the implementation of information systems and databases for E-Government in order to facilitate the mobility of people, business and government system in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan and South Korea have also agreed on training programs, under which thousands of representatives of Uzbek small and medium-size businesses annually work and receive training in Korean enterprises and companies.

As of 2019, Uzbekistan is Korea's third largest partner in emerging Europe and Central Asia, with trade reaching $2.36 billion and South Korean investment in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan exceeding $7 billion. Uzbekistan is also the third largest training partner among countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States, after Russia and Kazakhstan. South Korea primarily exports vehicles, machinery, construction material and equipment, while Uzbekistan exports natural resources and agricultural products.

In April 2019, President Moon Jae-in of Korea made a state visit to Tashkent. After a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Aler Ganiev and Deputy Prime Minister of South Korea Hong Nam-ki, South Korea and Uzbekistan have agreed to work on implementing a free trade agreement to expand bilateral economic and trade relations.

In March 2020, the two countries met for a virtual conference to organize a joint study on bilateral free trade, with the feasibility study concluding in November 2020.

In November 2020, Korea and Uzbekistan met during the 13th Central Asia-South Korea Cooperation Forum in Seoul, in which they discussed the consequences and opportunities for economic cooperation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the removal of remaining barriers to trade and improving product quality and competitiveness. In January 2021, the countries declared the start of discussions for a bilateral free trade agreement to be called the "Agreement for Sustainable Trade and Economic Partnership" (STEP).

Uzbekistan has invited South Korean experts to take positions as deputy minister in the Ministry for Development of Information Technologies & Communications, as well vice rectors at several universities. In 2014, South Korea's Inha University opened a branch in Tashkent, which focuses on computer sciences and high-tech engineering and gives all courses in English.

Yeoju Institute of Technology opened the Yeoju Technical Institute in Tashkent, which became the first private university in Uzbekistan. Courses include areas as architecture and urban planning, civil engineering, alternative energy, business management, tourism, international marketing, international economic relations, primary education, Korean language philology, and aesthetics and dresses’ design.

In 2019, during President Moon Jae-in's visit to Uzbekistan, the Korean Culture and Art House was opened in Tashkent. There are Korean Cultural Centers in Uzbek cities of Samarkand, Bukhara, and Nukus.

Relations between Korea and Uzbekistan date back to the 1930s.

In the late 1930s, thousands of Koreans in the Soviet Union were deported to Central Asia, supposedly to prevent further Japanese espionage. These people are now known as Goryo Saram. It is estimated that 177,270 ethnic Koreans still live in the territory of Uzbekistan, making it the largest in Central Asia and the fifth largest in the world, after U.S, China, Japan and Canada.
The presence of these ethnic Koreans helps to strengthen ties between the two countries.

A monument honoring the Goryo Saram on the 80th anniversary of their deportation from the Soviet Far East to Uzbek SSR was unveiled at Seoul Park in Tashkent. The monument was established by the Korea Culture Association and the Overseas Koreans Foundation in Uzbekistan.

The unveiling ceremony of the monument was attended by Mayor of Seoul Park Won-soon and Mayor of Tashkent Rakhmonbek Usmanov. The park itself was a result of the sister city relationship between Seoul and Tashkent which was formalized in 2010. It was opened by then South Korean President Lee Myung-bak during his visit to Uzbekistan in 2009.