Diplomatic ties between Uzbekistan and the Republic of Korea were established in January 1992. Currently, cooperation between the two countries has reached the level of strategic partnership.

Over the past period, the Republic of Korea has become a reliable, time-tested partner for Uzbekistan. The two countries successfully cooperate in dozens of areas: higher, vocational, and preschool education, healthcare, digitalization, green energy, and labor relations.

In particular, many practical projects are being implemented jointly with KOICA – the Korea International Cooperation Agency. They relate to the free provision of equipment to Uzbekistan, training employees abroad, and invitation of Korean specialists and volunteers to Uzbekistan.

KOICA is the government agency responsible for implementing grant assistance programs. The organization collaborates with 51 countries and has representative offices in 47 countries.

“Our team, which began operations in 1995, with the support of the Government of Uzbekistan, is working on 45 projects and programs worth $210 million”, says Shin Myung Seop, Director of the KOICA Uzbekistan Office. “This is the highest figure in Central Asia. Naturally, we intend to expand the scope of cooperation and annually increase the budget for technical assistance to Uzbekistan”.

The Representative Office’s activities are carried out per the Official Development Assistance strategy of the Korean Government and the KOICA plan for Uzbekistan. At the same time, attention is paid to such priority areas as education and youth skills development, healthcare, water resource efficiency, public administration (e-government), green economy, climate change, placement of volunteers and experts, and scholarship programs for masters and doctoral students.

As part of the “World Friends Korea” program, about 600 Korean volunteer specialists have been sent from Korea to Uzbekistan since 1995 to teach the Korean language, information and communication technologies, healthcare, and sports.

In addition, 2,250 government employees of Uzbekistan have been trained in short-term and long-term programs organized by KOICA.

The Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan and local agencies are developing promising cooperation projects for 2025-2026. At the same time, about 20 proposals worth $150 million are being considered.

Relations between Uzbekistan and the Republic of Korea have been elevated to a special strategic partnership based on strong mutual trust. This results from political will and close and sincere friendship between the two countries’ leaders.

At the invitation of the President of Uzbekistan, the President of the Republic of Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, will pay a state visit to the country on June 13-15. Undoubtedly, this event will create an essential basis for raising existing cooperation to an even higher level.

Guzal Sattorova, UzA