South Korean Leader Signs Deals As Central Asian Tour Hits Kazakhstan

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (left) and Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev in Astana on June 12.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, on a tour of Central Asia, signed agreements on energy, oil, and chemical industry cooperation with Kazakhstan after meeting with President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev in Astana on June 12. The two leaders also took part in the Kazakh-Korean business forum in Astana. Yoon is expected to meet representatives of the Korean diaspora in Kazakhstan, who are the successors of Koreans deported by Josef Stalin's regime from Russia's Far East in the 1940s. Before visiting Astana, Yoon held talks with Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhammedov and is expected to visit Uzbekistan after finishing his trip to Kazakhstan. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.