Moon wants railway to Uzbekistan via North Korea
President Moon Jae-in and Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev shake hands ahead of their summit in Tashkent, Friday. / Yonhap
Leaders agree to upgrade strategic ties in Tashkent
By Yi Whan-woo
Korea and Uzbekistan agreed to upgrade their bilateral relationship to a “special strategic partnership” and enhance exchanges accordingly, President Moon Jae-in said Friday.
Moon, who is visiting Uzbekistan as part of a three-nation Central Asia trip from April 16 to 23, said he hopes to see the two countries connected through a railway network. “We, as friends and brothers, agreed to enhance our relations,” Moon said during a speech to the Uzbek parliament. He referred to a summit with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev that took place earlier Friday. “We therefore will elevate bilateral ties to a special strategic partnership and enhance policies to facilitate exchanges.”
President Moon noted the trade volume between the two countries reached a record $2.1 billion last year and that over 600 Korean companies run business in Uzbekistan.
The cooperation varies from information and communications technology (ICT) to health care and the environment, according to Moon.
In regards to ICT, the two sides are preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and are jointly working on 5G technology, big data and artificial intelligence.
A joint medical care center has opened on the occasion of Moon’s Uzbekistan visit as part of Korea’s efforts to help innovate Uzbekistan’s medical policies.
“The two countries are also cooperating on climate change and other environment issues as members of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI),” Moon said.
The GGGI is a treaty-based international organization headquartered in Seoul.
Moon has sought to open a railway network connecting the two Koreas and Eurasia, as part of his wider push for inter-Korean reconciliation.
He added that he has been dreaming of taking a train from the Uzebk capital of Tashkent since his departure from Seoul.
“This will be the iron silk road of the 21st century. Koreans will be able to see the prospective future of Central Asia,” he said.
He thanked the people of Uzbekistan for their hospitality towards ethnic Koreans when the latter were forced to move to Uzbekistan from the Far East region in the 1930s.