Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
INTERVIEW 'New Kazakhstan' emerging
Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Korea Bakyt Dyussenbayev poses at the country's embassy in Seoul's Yongsan District, April 8. Korea Times photo by Kwon Mee-yoo
By Kwon Mee-yoo
By Kwon Mee-yoo
On March 16, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced major constitutional reforms, including limiting the powers of the president.
"The main idea of the reform is to create a new platform for the development of the country, to create new, fresh air to be a modern and developed country, because we have all that is necessary to be a country that is comfortable for our citizens to live and to work in,” said Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Korea Bakyt Dyussenbayev, who sat down with The Korea Times at the country's embassy in Seoul's Yongsan District, April 8, to share the vision of “New Kazakhstan.”
The ambassador explained that the reforms lay the foundation for constitutional and political transformations that have already been initiated by President Tokayev since assuming office in 2019, promoting democratization and ensuring the sustainability and manageability of Kazakhstan.
"The head of state stressed that an important lesson of this January (when there was significant unrest) is that the concentration of power in the hands of the highest official in the state increases the influence of financial oligarchy groups and persons. That's why one of the aims of this political reform package is to transform the country from a super-presidential country to a presidential republic with a strong parliament,” he said.
Ambassador Dyussenbayev pointed out that these reforms are a continuation of President Tokayev's efforts to modernize the country.
"Since the beginning of his time in office in 2019, President Tokayev expressed his will to conduct important modernization of the country, because we are facing many political, economic and security challenges around the world and we cannot lose this train of modernization and development," he said.
The reforms impact almost all political institutions of Kazakhstan, from the president, parliament and local self-governments to the party system, electoral system, judicial system and law enforcement systems, with a significant weakening of the powers of the president.
"First of all, the president of the country is legally obligated to terminate his membership in a political party for the duration of his term of office. Also, the president proposed a special ban at the legislative level of close relatives of the president being appointed to positions as top-level civil servants and managers in state-owned companies," the ambassador explained.
For instance, the electoral system will be switched from one based fully on proportional representation to a mixed proportional and majoritarian system. The threshold for registering a new political party will be reduced to 5,000 members from the current 20,000, opening up opportunities for more diverse groups of people to establish parties to represent themselves.
"The president of Kazakhstan stressed that it is necessary to urgently start developing a new package of structural reforms in the economy and public administration, taking into account the strategy of political modernization,” the ambassador said.
Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev speaks during his state of the nation speech, announcing reforms limiting the powers of the president, in the country's parliament, March 16. Courtesy of the Embassy of Kazakhstan to Korea
The reforms will spur the democratization and increased opening of Kazakhstan, which will be beneficial not only for domestic policy, but also for the development of foreign policy, which could strengthen the Kazakhstan-Korea relationship.
"Our foreign policy is open and pragmatic. With the Republic of Korea, we have important economic projects and bilateral trade is growing; in the last year, bilateral trade was $3.2 billion. We are the main partner for the Republic of Korea in Central Asia and for us, the Republic of Korea is one of the main trade partners and one of the biggest investors in our economy,” he said.
"We are working to deepen our cooperation in ICT, as we have special programs of digitalization in the country. Because Kazakhstan is very rich in natural resources, the development of machinery is also very important for us and we are working with Korean companies to develop this special industry. Many companies also striving to guarantee the supply of rare metals that can be used for electronic equipment."
The ambassador said he expects continuity with the incoming Korean administration because of the importance of cooperation between Kazakhstan and Korea, emphasizing the strategic importance of the Central Asian region.
"All recent Korean governments have had good and excellent relations with Kazakhstan and all recent presidents of the Republic of Korea officially visited Kazakhstan. President Moon Jae-in visited in 2019 and our president visited last year," he said.
Dyussenbayev noted that Tokayev was the first foreign head of state to visit Korea officially after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, highlighting the importance of Korea to Kazakhstan and vice versa.
"We are glad to have this level of relations between our countries, continuing the work to deepen our relations more in different spheres… We hope that this tradition will be continued by the new Korean president. We congratulate him on his victory in the presidential election and we're open and excited to his new step in the new moment of our relations."
Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev delivers a speech during his state visit to Korea, Aug. 17, 2021. Korea Times file
Kazakhstan as responsible international player
As the international situation is always changing and new tendencies emerge and develop, Kazakhstan is trying to become a responsible country and member of the international community.
"Because we are situated in the heart of the Eurasian continent, we are diplomatically very active and have important strategic relations with different international actors ― with our direct neighbors of China, the Russian Federation and Central Asian countries. Also, we have a special partnership with the European Union, excellent relations with the United States, South Korea, Japan and other important international actors," he said.
The ambassador explained the multi-ethnic and multi-religious character of the country where more than 100 different ethnic and religious groups live together, which leads the country to seek a balanced foreign policy.
"One of the points that we are proud of about our country is that we have open and honest foreign policy. We maintain strategic relations with east and west, with north and south, with all countries surrounding us and foreign neighbors. That's what allows us to be a respected member of the international community,” the ambassador said.
"Kazakhstan also has an important mediating role in the world, as it is a Eurasian country geographically situated between Europe and Asia, where the majority of the population is Muslim. That's why we belong to both worlds and that's why it allows us to understand problems better and to try to mediate between in some important issues."
Among recent international issues, the Central Asian state is trying to strike a balance amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As the country that shares the longest border with Russia, Kazakhstan has special relations of mutual cooperation, especially in the economic field, with Russia, while also having a long tradition of friendly relations with Ukraine.
"Kazakhstan is a peace-loving state that has legally formalized state borders with all neighboring countries. Pursuing a foreign policy of preventing the use of forceful methods to resolve disputes in interstate relations ― including through the use of military force and sanctions ― Kazakhstan consistently advocates respect and preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter," the Kazakh ambassador said.
"We also consider there to be no alternative other than a peaceful solution to this problem on the basis of international law and the principles of the U.N. Charter. We, from the beginning, call on the parties involved in the military conflict to show goodwill and to stop the hostilities... Kazakhstan always confirms its readiness to mediate in peace negotiations between conflicting parties and provide a negotiating platform.”