President Lee Myung-bak, accompanied by First Lady Kim Yoon-ok, is scheduled to pay state visits to Mongolia August 21-23 and the Republic of Uzbekistan August 23-24. Subsequently, he will make an official visit to the Republic of Kazakhstan August 24-25.

Mongolia

President Lee is scheduled to arrive in Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia, on August 21 and meet with Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj on the following day. At the summit, the two Presidents are expected to discuss the elevation of binational relations, the reinforcement of the foundation for mid- to long-term cooperation between Korea and Mongolia and ways to promote substantive collaboration in a variety of areas, including resources, infrastructure, health care, agriculture, development cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. They are also expected to exchange views on recent developments surrounding the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.

During his stay in Mongolia, President Lee is scheduled to meet with Mongolian Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold and other leading figures, attend a luncheon held by Korean and Mongolian business leaders and have an informal meeting with Korean residents in Mongolia. In addition, on the occasion of the Korean President’s visit, the two Governments will issue a joint statement between Korea and Mongolia and adopt a mid-term action plan providing guidelines for bilateral cooperation.

Uzbekistan

President Lee Myung-bak will make a state visit to the Republic of Uzbekistan at the invitation of President Islam Karimov. President Lee is scheduled to arrive in Tashkent in the afternoon of August 23 and meet with President Karimov. At the summit, the two Presidents will discuss how to work together for the development of the bilateral strategic partnership and how to boost substantive cooperation in various fields, including energy and resources, infrastructure, finance and IT. They are also expected to exchange views on regional and international developments.

While in Uzbekistan, the Korean head of state is slated to attend a meeting of the Korean-Uzbek Economic Cooperation Council. In addition, MOUs and contracts involving collaboration in the areas of health care, medicine, IT, textiles and other industries will be signed.

Kazakhstan

President Lee will make an official visit to the Republic of Kazakhstan at the invitation of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. He will arrive in Astana in the afternoon of August 24 and meet with President Nazarbayev the next day. At the summit, the two leaders will delve into the direction the bilateral strategic partnership should take as well as ways to strengthen substantive cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, energy, resources, environment, health care, medicine, IT and agriculture. They will discuss how to work together effectively in the international arena as well.

President Lee plans to participate in the Korea-Kazakhstan Business Forum and witness the signing of MOUs concerning collaboration in health care, medicine, environment, scientific research and other sectors. During his visit, the Korea-Kazakhstan Technology Cooperation Center will be opened to serve as a window for bilateral cooperation in technological matters.