S. Korea hosts 1st preparatory meeting for upcoming summit with Central Asia

SEOUL, April 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea hosted the first meeting of senior officials from five Central Asian nations to discuss preparations for their upcoming summit slated for September, the foreign ministry said Friday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Eui-hae led the Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) with vice foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, highlighting the summit vision centering on partnership, peace, prosperity and people-to-people exchanges.

Chung called for joint efforts to ensure the first-ever summit will serve to produce an outcome that would benefit the peoples of the participating countries.

The vice ministers of the five Central Asian nations noted that the summit demonstrates an elevation of their ties with South Korea, voicing hope that the two sides will further deepen cooperation in a strategic and comprehensive manner.

Chung also had bilateral meetings with each of the five vice ministers and discussed cooperation efforts. Separate policy dialogues were held with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on Thursday.

Following the SOM meeting, the vice ministers paid a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Cho Hyun.

The summit is scheduled for Sept. 16 and 17.

elly@yna.co.kr(END)