President Lee Jae-myung held a summit with Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedow on the 15th and agreed to sharply expand economic cooperation in energy, plants, transportation and logistics. The two countries signed 13 agreements and memorandums of understanding, including an investment protection accord, strengthening the institutional groundwork for Korean companies entering the Turkmen market.
At the summit held at the Blue House, Lee expressed particular gratitude for Turkmenistan's support in helping Korean nationals evacuate safely during the war in Iran. "I am deeply grateful for the special consideration you extended so that our citizens and their families staying in Iran could evacuate safely through Turkmenistan, at a time when the Middle East situation was urgent last year and this year," Lee said. "The warm hand you extended in a difficult moment properly showed the deep trust and friendship between our two countries."
In the early stage of the war in Iran in March this year, about 30 Koreans staying in the country escaped overland to Turkmenistan. The Turkmen government supported their swift departure at the time, including by designating an immigration checkpoint exclusively for Koreans.
Lee said he wants to build on that foundation to turn bilateral relations into tangible economic results. "Since establishing a mutually beneficial partnership in 2008, our two countries have built a foundation of substantive cooperation over a long period," Lee said. "I hope we can now use that as a springboard to create results that our people can feel in their daily lives."
He laid out a plan to combine Turkmenistan's abundant energy resources and geopolitical advantages with Korea's industrial and technological competitiveness. "Korea will work together so that Turkmenistan's abundant resources lead to high value-added industries and jobs, and so that the land connecting the Caspian Sea and Central Asia becomes a new gateway for logistics and trade," Lee said.
Marking the summit, the two countries signed 13 agreements and memorandums of understanding covering investment promotion and protection, infrastructure, the chemical industry and plants, rail transport and water resource management. Through these, they plan to expand Korean corporate participation in major projects in oil, gas and chemicals as well as construction, transportation and logistics, and to strengthen cooperation on water resource projects such as the modernization of the Karakum Canal.
Turkmenistan also expressed support for the END Initiative, Lee's policy framework toward North Korea. "We highly value Korea's continued support for the various initiatives we have proposed on the international stage," Berdimuhamedow said. "Turkmenistan likewise supports Korea's positions on major international issues."
Referring directly to the END Initiative, he said, "I reaffirm our support for it here." He added, "We will continue to consistently maintain the position that all issues on the Korean Peninsula should be resolved through peaceful dialogue and diplomatic means."
