1. On July 30, Minister of Foreign Affairs Chung Eui-yong met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov, who is on an official visit to Korea. They had an extensive exchange of views on bilateral relations as well as regional affairs including the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

* Minister Kamilov visited Korea 8 months after his visit to Korea in November 2020 on the occasion of the 13^th Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum.

2. The two Ministers noted with appreciation that the two countries continue to expand bilateral cooperation through video conference as well as face-to-face exchanges amid the COVID-19 pandemic, including Korea-Uzbekistan Videoconference Summit in January 2021, and mutual visits of high-ranking officials.

° The two Ministers shared a common view that the two countries have been enhancing friendship based on deep trust since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, and the bilateral cooperation keeps expanding in a wide range of fields since April 2019 when the two countries upgraded bilateral relations to “Special Strategic Partnership.”

° In addition, the two Ministers decided to work closely in order to increase cultural and people-to-people exchanges by holding diverse celebratory events in commemoration of the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

* Korea and Uzbekistan established diplomatic relations on 29 January 1992.

* Mutual visits of high-ranking officials in 2021: Speaker of the National Assembly of Korea visited Uzbekistan in April, Commissioner General of the Korean National Policy Agency in June, and Commissioner of the National Tax Service in July; Minister of Public Health of Uzbekistan visited Korea in May, Minister of Labor in June, and Minister of Foreign Affairs in August.

3. The two Ministers agreed to reinforce cooperation in various fields such as trade and investment, knowledge sharing in public healthcare and education, and response to climate change.

° The two Ministers agreed to work closely together to advance the Korea-Uzbekistan Trade Agreement negotiations in full scale as a follow-up measure to the Summit in January 2021.

* The Korea-Uzbekistan Trade Agreement is the first Trade Agreement dealing with trade in goods among partner countries of the New Northern Policy including five Central Asian countries. / The negotiation was launched in January 2021 on the occasion of the Summit and the first negotiation was held in April.

° Foreign Minister Chung hoped that various development cooperation projects between the two countries, such as the establishment of children's hospital, opened in Tashkent last year, will contribute to the socio-economic development of Uzbekistan.

* The Children's hospital is a development cooperation project combining credit-assistance of the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) of Korea and grant of KOICA and the National Medical Foundation to establish the hospital and build up capability of running the hospital. The hospital opened in Tashkent in October 2020.

* Bilateral development cooperation projects: ICT-based medical system establishment (2020-2021), Korean model kindergarten establishment and kindergarten teacher competency building project (2021-2026), projects in response to the Aral Sea crisis (2021-2024), etc.

4. Foreign Minister Chung emphasized that Uzbekistan is a key partner in the New Northern Policy pursued by the Korean government, and expressed hope for close cooperation with Central Asian countries including Uzbekistan for the common prosperity of the Eurasian continent. Foreign Minister Kamilov reaffirmed his support for the New Northern Policy.

5. The two Ministers appreciated that the Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum, launched in 2007, has established a model framework for multilateral cooperation that promotes substantive cooperation between Korea and Central Asia in various fields.

° Specifically, they noted that the agreement to upgrade the Forum to Ministerial-level at the 13th Forum last year is of great significance for the development of Korea-Central Asia relations, and agreed to keep cooperating to promote the Forum as a leading consultative group for multilateral cooperation between Korea and Central Asian countries.

* The Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum is an annual multilateral forum between Korea and five Central Asian countries established in 2007 at the initiative of the Korean government, where they discuss ways to promote comprehensive cooperation, such as exploring joint cooperation projects through cooperation between the public and private sectors.

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6. The two Ministers shared the view that 180,000 ethnic Koreans residing in Uzbekistan (the largest number of Koreans in the former Soviet Union countries) are playing a role as a bridge in the development of bilateral relations. Foreign Minister Chung asked for unceasing attention and support of Uzbekistan for the Korean society in Uzbekistan.

7. Foreign Minister Kamilov supported the Korean government's efforts to make progress toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to improve inter-Korean relations. Foreign Minister Chung asked for consistent attention and support of Uzbekistan in advancing the Korean Peninsula Peace Process.