President Lee Jae Myung [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung met with Tanzila Narbaeva, speaker of the Uzbek Senate, at Cheong Wa Dae on Monday, saying South Korea and Uzbekistan are "growing into an even more special strategic partnership."

Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Kim Sung-wan announced the meeting through a written briefing that afternoon.

Lee said he was pleased that "the friendship and trust built by the two governments are deepening mutually beneficial cooperation in the economic sphere, and that goodwill and exchanges between our peoples are also growing."

Lee also recalled the summit he held with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during Mirziyoyev's state visit to South Korea on the sidelines of the Korea-Central Asia Summit in September. He urged Narbaeva to "work toward legislative support at the parliamentary level and the implementation of agreements so that the outcomes of summit diplomacy can translate into concrete results."

At that summit, the two leaders agreed to expand future-oriented and mutually beneficial cooperation in areas including critical mineral supply chains, transportation and logistics connectivity, AI and digital transformation, and cultural exchange.

Narbaeva said she agreed that "President Mirziyoyev's state visit served as an opportunity to deepen bilateral cooperation," and pledged that Uzbekistan's parliament would "play an active role in advancing the relationship through parliamentary cooperation."

Narbaeva is Uzbekistan's first female Senate speaker and also chairs the Korea-Uzbekistan Practical Cooperation Monitoring Committee.


sang@heraldcorp.com