South Korea embraces Central Asian leaders, looking to boost regional clout

South Korea is set to welcome the heads of the five Central Asian states for the first-ever presidential summit between Seoul and the region, a meeting local media have dubbed “historic”.Wednesday’s summit, preceded by bilateral meetings between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and leaders of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, aims to deepen economic engagement between Central Asia and the host, and put them on a more permanent footing.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Kazakhstan’s Tokayev appoints longtime adviser as vice presidentlist 2 of 4Kyrgyzstan hosts pivotal SCO summit amid global geopolitical shiftslist 3 of 4BRICS meets in India: What’s on the agenda, why it matterslist 4 of 4South Korean officials decry ‘worst ever’ Asian Games accommodationend of list“The first expectation is political. The summit will raise a dialogue that has existed since 2007 to the level of heads of state. But the real test is whether it produces a workable agenda in critical minerals, energy, digital technologies and transport,” Sanat Kushkumbayev, from the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies, told Al Jazeera.“For Central Asia, the value of the...