Assembly speaker meets Kyrgyz president, eyes expanded cooperation in AI, energy and healthcare

National Assembly Speaker Cho Jung-sik met with Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov at the Assembly's reception room Thursday to discuss expanding economic and investment cooperation between the two countries, as well as ways to strengthen multilateral diplomacy and inter-parliamentary exchanges.

Welcoming Japarov and his delegation on their second visit to South Korea and the National Assembly, Cho said the two countries had elevated their ties to a "comprehensive partnership" in 2024 — 32 years after establishing diplomatic relations — and that the visit marked the start of concrete follow-up steps. "I highly appreciate the fact that bilateral trade doubled last year compared to the previous year, cementing Kyrgyzstan's position as South Korea's second-largest trading partner in Central Asia," he said.

Cho also mentioned plans to establish a "Korea Desk" in Kyrgyzstan and open a KOTRA trade office in Bishkek, expressing hope that the moves would facilitate stable market entry and investment by South Korean companies. "As Kyrgyzstan's economy is growing rapidly, the National Assembly will actively support efforts to expand bilateral cooperation into areas such as AI and advanced technology, energy and healthcare," he said.

Cho congratulated Kyrgyzstan on its election in June to a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, saying he looked forward to the country playing a greater role on the international stage. He added that he hoped the two countries would work closely together for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

With next year marking the 90th anniversary of Koryo-saram settlement in Central Asia, Cho expressed gratitude to the Kyrgyz government and people for standing alongside the ethnic Korean community over the years. He said he hoped the president's visit would serve as an opportunity to further develop not only bilateral relations but also exchanges and cooperation between the two countries' parliaments.

President Japarov said trade between South Korea and Kyrgyzstan had grown more than 90 percent over the past six years, with cooperation expanding broadly across politics, economics, investment, culture and people-to-people exchanges. "Inter-parliamentary cooperation is an important foundation that underpins political dialogue between our two countries and an effective means of deepening and advancing our relationship," he said. "The Korea-Central Asia Summit has created a new opportunity to take our cooperation to the next level, and it is important that we continue to pursue substantive cooperation at the parliamentary level as well."