Relationship dossier
South Korea
Uzbekistan
Relationship assessment
South Korea and Uzbekistan maintain a close strategic partnership spanning investment, development finance, industry, and labor mobility.
South Korea toward Uzbekistan
+65South Korea has supported Uzbekistan through concessional development financing and sustained government-backed economic cooperation. South Korean administrations have also used high-level bilateral engagement to expand cooperation in industry, investment, and development.
Uzbekistan toward South Korea
+65Uzbekistan has actively encouraged South Korean investment and industrial participation, including cooperation that helped establish the country's automotive manufacturing sector. Its government has also pursued high-level strategic and economic cooperation with South Korea.
Overall relationship
+65The relationship has a durable cooperative structure, including strategic partnership frameworks and recurring government efforts to deepen economic and development cooperation. South Korean development finance and industrial investment, alongside Uzbekistan's active engagement with Korean businesses, are major features. No major bilateral dispute is identified in this assessment.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
South Korea and Uzbekistan maintain a close, sustained partnership, formalized as a special strategic partnership in 2019 and upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2024. Their governments have pursued cooperation in development finance, investment, industry, and labor mobility. South Korea has supported Uzbek development projects through concessional financing, while Uzbekistan has welcomed substantial South Korean business and industrial engagement.
Key developments
The two governments elevated their relationship to a special strategic partnership during President Moon Jae-in's visit to Uzbekistan.
The governments upgraded the relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership during President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to Uzbekistan.
Major uncertainties
- The implementation and longer-term results of recent bilateral agreements are unclear.
- The current scale and sectoral distribution of development finance and investment cooperation are uncertain.