Korea-Central Asia Summit exposes limits of bloc diplomacy

Seoul hosted the inaugural Korea-Central Asia Summit last Wednesday, with 74 bilateral agreements and MOUs signed and one unified “Seoul Declaration” given. This diplomatic gathering marked the first time all five Central Asian states — Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan — met in Korea, following a similar format to the United States’ “C5+1” initiative, last held in 2025. The summit represents a significant elevation in relations between Korea and Central Asia. Korea first recognized the Central Asian states’ independence from the Soviet Union in 1992, and has been a consistent source of foreign direct investment (FDI) since. At the end of last year, South Korea contributed $6.4 billion in FDI to the region. An all head-of-state level gathering signals a new era of relations. The region’s ties to Korea extend beyond the political to the personal as well. Central Asia is home to nearly a third of a million ethnic Koreans deported to the region in 1937 by Joseph Stalin, then leader of the Soviet Union. Today, around 100,000 of their descenda