By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo

As part of the IV Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, a meeting was held between the Minister of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan Ermek Marzhikpayev and the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea Yu In-chon.

They discussed the main directions for developing mutual cooperation between the two countries, strengthening ties and exchanging experience in the fields of sports, tourism and sports pharmacology.

The Kazakh Minister expressed hope for strengthening mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation. Also, during the meeting, Ermek Marzhikpayev handed over an official letter and invited the South Korean delegation to visit the 5th World Nomad Games in Astana from September 8 to 14, 2024, where the Korean wrestling “Ssireum” was included in the program. About 4,000 participants from more than 100 countries will take part in the competition. It is expected that more than 100,000 tourists will visit sports competitions and cultural events.

In addition, Ermek Marzhikpayev noted the positive growth dynamics of South Korean tourists, as well as work to increase the number of flights and open new air routes between the two countries.

The South Korean side welcomed the participation of the Kazakh team at the IV Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon and wished good luck to the Kazakh athletes.

According to the results of the IV Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, the Kazakh team took 20th place in the team event, winning 1 gold (Ilya Mizernykh, ski jumping) and 2 bronze medals (Polina Omelchuk, 1000-meter short track speed skating and Kazakhstan’s junior ice hockey team). In total, 1,802 athletes from 78 countries took part in the Olympic Games.

It should be noted that based on the results of 2023, the tourist flow from South Korea to Kazakhstan increased by 125%. Today, there are 11 flights between Almaty and Seoul (Air Astana has 6 flights and Asiana Airlines has 5 flights). The flight duration between Almaty and Seoul is 6 hours. There is an Agreement on a visa-free regime between the two countries, according to which citizens of the Republic of Korea can visit Kazakhstan without a visa for up to 30 days.