Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is preparing one of the busiest diplomatic trips of the month. Immediately after wrapping up a two-day BRICS summit in India, he will head to Seoul on a state visit, where talks with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung are scheduled for September 14–16. The main round of the leaders' meeting is planned for the afternoon of September 15, according to infohub.kz.
For the first time in history, the Central Asia–South Korea cooperation format is being elevated from the ministerial level to a meeting of the leaders of all five countries in the region. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was the first to land in Seoul, with delegations from Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan expected to arrive next.
The highlight of the visit will be a multilateral summit on September 16. Official Seoul is keenly interested in diversifying resource supplies, openly targeting critical minerals, uranium and rare metals from Central Asia.
In turn, Kazakhstan and its regional neighbors hope to exchange raw material potential for modern exploration technologies, technology transfers and access to the South Korean market. The meeting is expected to result in the Seoul Declaration — a broad long-term partnership strategy in energy, artificial intelligence and digitalization.
Immediately after the official political segment, the presidents will move to a business summit bringing together around 500 representatives of major Korean corporations and financial institutions.
For Kazakhstan, the visit will serve as a platform to attract direct investment in industry and logistics. Experts note that Seoul will host real competition among regional countries for Korean capital and manufacturing technology.