'Seoul park' to be built in Uzbekistan

SEOUL, Feb. 10 (Yonhap) -- The Seoul metropolitan government said Wednesday it
plans to build a park in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, by 2012 to promote
ties between the two cities.

Seoul will cover construction costs for the "Seoul park" while the government in
Tashkent will provide land free of charge, the city government said.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and his counterpart from Tashkent, Tukhtaev Abdukahhor
Khasanvich, are scheduled to exchange Letters of Intent on the construction
project at Oh's office Thursday.
The two cities have exchanged visits of officials and art troupes since forging a
"friendship city" agreement in March 2006.
About 175,000 ethnic Koreans live in Uzbekistan and an estimated 80,000 of them
in Tashkent, the largest such population in Central Asia, according to the Seoul
city government.
"We hope the park will serve as a chance to increase (the Central Asian
country's) awareness of traditional Korean culture and the pride of ethnic Korean
compatriots as well as the friendship between the two cities," the Seoul
government said in a statement.
sshim@yna.co.kr
(END)

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