S. Korean president calls for 'New Silk Road' with Uzbekistan

By Byun Duk-kun
TASHKENT, May 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak proposed Monday
building a new "Silk Road" connecting his country and Uzbekistan to place the two
nations at the center of Asian economies.
The "silk road of the 21st century" would "combine South Korea's world-class IT
and digital technologies with Uzbekistan's geographical advantage as a gateway to
Central Asia to become a hub of cargo transportation," Lee said at a luncheon
meeting, according to excerpts released ahead of his speech.
Lee was addressing some 160 Korean and Uzbek officials and business
representatives, including Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirzieyev.
"The countries must now establish a digital silk road based on WiBro technology
that was commercialized by South Korea for the first time in the world," Lee told
the meeting.
The South Korean president is currently on a state visit that began Sunday. He
held a summit with his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov earlier Monday, and will
head to Kazakhstan Tuesday for a three-day visit there.
Bilateral trade between Seoul and Tashkent jumped nearly five times in just six
years from US$280 million in 2002 to $1.38 billion last year, according to Cheong
Wa Dae, the South Korean presidential office.
South Korea and Uzbekistan signed a total of 16 deals earlier Monday that
included a contract on the joint exploration and drilling of oil and gas fields
in Uzbekistan's Namangan-Tergachi and Chust-Pap regions.
The areas are believed to hold as much as 10.5 million tons of gas and 9.2
million tons of oil, according to South Korean officials.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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