Kazakhstan seeks to deepen economic ties with S. Korea beyond autos into high-tech, key minerals

Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi made the remarks in a written interview with Yonhap News Agency, as President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is scheduled to visit South Korea for the first South Korea-Central Asia Summit this week.

The inaugural multilateral summit will be held in Seoul on Wednesday, bringing together the leaders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to discuss cooperation in such areas as critical minerals, energy and supply chain diversification.

"The forthcoming state visit is particularly important because Kazakhstan-Korea relations already rest on a solid economic and investment foundation, and we now have an opportunity to move our cooperation to a higher level," Tileuberdi said.

"Korea and Central Asia have complementary economic strengths. Korea has advanced technologies, industrial expertise and capital. Central Asia has significant natural resources, energy capacity, growing markets and an important geographic position," he added.

Bilateral trade reached US$3.17 billion in 2025, while hundreds of South Korean companies operate in Kazakhstan, including Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. and Doosan.

Korean investment has translated into factories, jobs, local production and technology transfer, with Hyundai and Kia's operations serving as prominent examples. Hyundai operates an automobile manufacturing facility in Almaty, while Kia has launched a major production facility in Kostanay.

But Kazakhstan sees the automotive industry as a model for broader industrial cooperation.

"Our two countries are currently working on 46 industrial cooperation projects with a combined value of around $4 billion, covering automobile production, engineering, metallurgy, electronics and other sectors," Tileuberdi said.

"This is the model we would like to expand: Korean technology and investment combined with production, local suppliers and skilled personnel in Kazakhstan," he added.

Tileuberdi identified AI and data infrastructure as promising areas for new joint projects, saying Kazakhstan's expanding computing and data center capacity could create opportunities for Korean companies in areas such as data centers, power infrastructure and cooling technologies.

Critical minerals are another priority, as the country has significant reserves of uranium, copper, chromium, zinc and other minerals needed by modern industries.

"Our priority, however, is not simply to export raw materials. We are interested in processing, higher value-added production and integration into Korean industrial supply chains, including batteries, electronics and other high-tech sectors," the minister said.

Tileuberdi also highlighted Kazakhstan's geographic position as an advantage for Korean companies seeking to diversify their supply chains. Kazakhstan, Central Asia's largest economy, sits along key trade routes linking Asia and Europe, and is investing in railways and the Trans-Caspian transport corridor.

"For Korean companies, Kazakhstan's value lies in the combination of market size, industrial capacity, resources and geography," he said.

Tileuberdi said the upcoming summit should focus on concrete implementation rather than simply setting broad goals.

"The practical value of the summit should therefore be measured by what follows it. We would like to see specific projects, clearly identified partners, appropriate financing mechanisms and realistic implementation timelines," he stressed.

The minister also emphasized that the bilateral relationship has "a human foundation that goes well beyond economics," which he said "provides the trust on which long-term relations between our two countries are built."

Koreans have lived in Kazakhstan for nearly nine decades and have made contributions to science, culture, business and public life, he said. Next year will mark the 90th anniversary of the relocation of Koreans to Central Asia in 1937.

The legacy of Korean independence fighter Hong Beom-do (1868-1943), who spent his later years in Kazakhstan, remains "a powerful symbol" connecting the two peoples, the minister said.

Tileuberdi also has a personal connection to South Korea. He studied at Seoul's Yonsei University and served as a young Kazakh diplomat at his country's embassy in Seoul in the 1990s.

"It is also deeply gratifying to see how far the relationship between Kazakhstan and Korea has come since those early years of our diplomatic ties," he said.

South Korea and Kazakhstan established diplomatic relations in 1992 and upgraded their ties to a strategic partnership in 2009.

Earlier, Qazinform reported President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had arrived in the Republic of Korea for a state visit at the invitation of President Lee Jae Myung.