KOREA FOUNDATION

Dr. Kwak Song Woong
Graduate School of International Studies, Hanyang University

Next year, Korea and the five Central Asian republics celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of their official diplomatic relations after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Korea established relations with Kazakhstan on Jan. 28, 1992, followed by Uzbekistan (Jan. 29), Kyrgyzstan (Jan. 31), Turkmenistan (Feb. 7), and Tajikistan (Apr. 27). Since forging their relations, Korea and these Central Asian countries have engaged in remarkable mutual exchange and cooperation on the political, economic, social, and cultural fronts. From a diplomatic perspective, Korea was able to form strategic partnerships with many new countries, while from an economic perspective, a new market for trade worth USD 6.8 billion (as of 2019) was created. Meanwhile, from a social and cultural perspective, dynamic bilateral exchange has allowed more than 110,000 people (as of 2019) from these five Central Asian republics to take up residence in Korea.

The origin of these extensive and enduring friendly relations between Korea and the Central Asian republics occurred in 1990, before official diplomatic ties. Korean diplomatic documents from that year, made public in 2021, bring to light interesting aspects of Korea’s initial efforts to establish diplomatic relations with the republics. The Korean government’s policy-level interest in Central Asia is clearly evident throughout these documents, along with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan’s keen interest in improving relations with Korea. It is important to note that the year 1990 was two years before official relations began.

Afghanistan was actually the first socialist bloc country in Central Asia to show interest in improving relations with Korea. After the start of the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1988, Afghanistan’s Najibullah government expressed keen interest in normalizing relations with Korea from 1988 to 1990 through several diplomatic channels, including through India, the US, Indonesia, Hungary, Ethiopia, and Gabon. Korea, however, was hesitant to improve relations due to Afghanistan's internal instability and American and Pakistani opposition to forging close ties with the Najibullah government. Ultimately, Korea and Afghanistan established diplomatic relations in 2002, after the fall of the Taliban government.

In contrast to Afghanistan, Korea and Kazakhstan’s efforts to improve relations were smooth from the start. This was because the Korean government responded positively to Kazakh President Nazarbayev's strong will to establish ties. Nazarbayev was so intent on this that he met with Korea's consulate general in San Francisco during a visit to the US in July 1990 to express interest in visiting Korea — even before Korea and the USSR had established relations. Right after the Korea-USSR diplomatic relationship began, he visited Korea in November of the same year and suggested to President Roh Tae-woo that Korea establish a consulate in Kazakhstan.

Uzbekistan also expressed strong interest in improving relations with Korea. Like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan displayed a keen desire to establish ties, making direct contact with Korean delegation leader Kim Jong-in at the first Korea-USSR government delegation meeting, held in Moscow in August 1990 right before Korea and the USSR established relations. Uzbek President Karimov, during an October 1990 meeting with Korea’s deputy consulate general in Moscow, requested that Korea send an economic development investigation team to inspect his country’s economic situation. Karimov, who was the second leader of a newly formed Central Asian country to visit Korea after Nazarbayev, would display a great affinity for Korea by holding more than 10 summits with Korean presidents.

While Korea’s interest in the Central Asian nations in the early 1990s was focused on the region’s material resources and its desire to seek out new markets, the large number of Koryo-saram (ethnic Koreans living in post-Soviet states) living in the region also played a major role. According to diplomatic documents, in 1990, the Korean government believed that there were 100,000 Koryo-saram in Kazakhstan and another 200,000 in Uzbekistan. Government officials sympathized with the tragedy of their forced migration, and held in high regard the human networks they had built and the material capital they had acquired in their areas of residence. Likewise, the Kazakh and Uzbek governments tried to highlight the existence of Koryo-saram in their countries as much as possible, aiming to improve relations with Korea. The Koryo-saram issue became a regular agenda item during meetings between Korean diplomats and Uzbek and Kazakh officials, with Kazakhstan even proposing that cotton production — an industry in which many Koryo-saram were involved — become a focus of Korean investment and cooperation.

Diplomatic documents from 1990 present several interesting stories, events, and pieces of information about the history of how ties were formed between Korea and the Central Asian countries, giving us a sense of the generational bonds shared among people who worked to improve these relationships. Such bonds were forged from future-oriented interests, expectations, and mutual hopes. With this driving force, the leaders of the Central Asian republics ignored the outdated bureaucratic practices of the Soviet Union and focused on frank, practical ways of improving relations with Korea. The Korean government, for its part, was ambitious — even inviting the president of Kazakhstan, a mere head of a provincial government at the time, to Korea under the title of “foreign minister.” This approach contrasted with the Japanese government’s focus during that period on interacting with the federal government of the USSR rather than provincial governments.

The combined efforts of Korea and the Central Asian republics have led to remarkable results. From a diplomatic perspective, Korea now has a strategic partnership with Kazakhstan, a special strategic partnership with Uzbekistan, and a mutually beneficial partnership with Turkmenistan. From an economic perspective, the trade volume between Korea and Kazakhstan increased more than 21 times from 2001 to 2019, while trade increased almost six times between Korea and Uzbekistan during the same period. Additionally, people from Korea and the Central Asian republics continue to work together to strengthen cultural diversity and solidarity, with more than 100,000 people traveling between the two regions on an annual basis.

In the run-up to the 30th anniversary of their relationship, Korea and the Central Asian republics are sailing in calm waters. Although there have been moments of disturbance in the process of establishing the ties that exist today, Korea and the Central Asian republics will, as they always have, work to ensure these issues are resolved. As Winston Churchill once said, “The future is unknowable, but the past should give us hope.” Korea and the Central Asian republics should always remember the history of mutual exchange and cooperation achieved by the generations of the past so that they may use it as a foundation upon which they can head toward a new era.

Korea and the Central AsianDiplomatic Documentsofficial diplomaticmutual exchange and cooperation