South Korea embraces Central Asian leaders, looking to boost regional clout

South Korea is set to welcome the heads of the five Central Asian states for the first-ever presidential summit between Seoul and the region, a meeting local media have dubbed “historic”. Wednesday’s summit, preceded by bilateral meetings between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and leaders of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, aims to deepen economic engagement between Central Asia and the host, and put them on a more permanent footing. “The first expectation is political. The summit will raise a dialogue that has existed since 2007 to the level of heads of state.