By Diplomacy Journal Lee Jon-young

Bucheon City Mayor Cho Yong-ik met with Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to South Korea Aida Ismailova, and agreed to find ways for mutual cooperation on Jan. 29.

Bucheon City announced on Jan. 31 that Bucheon and Kyrgyz Republic have recently increased exchanges in the medical and economic fields.

Soon Chun Hyang University Bucheon Hospital has been operating the Bishkek Imaging Consultation Center in Kyrgyzstan since 2022, and a local cosmetics company signed a contract to sell functional cosmetics to CIS member states, including Kyrgyzstan, in January this year.

Based on the discussion, Mayor Cho and Ambassador Ismailova decided to strengthen exchange and cooperation to promote win-win development.

"I hope that the city of Kyrgyzstan and Bucheon City will develop cooperation in various fields such as economy, education, and medical care," said Ambassador Ismailova. "Kyrgyzstan is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, which allows duty-free exports to five member countries, including Russia. In particular, 6,600 items can be exported duty-free to the European and American markets." 

Mayor Cho said, "Bucheon is fostering cultural content industries such as culture, webtoons, and movies, and has four universities and five general hospital-level hospitals. In addition, there are many cosmetics manufacturing and sales companies, and we look forward to exchange cooperation in various fields such as education, medical care, and beauty industry."

Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyz Republic) gained independence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and began diplomatic relations with Korea in 1992. Since then, the country has been actively pursuing an open-door policy, joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1998 and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in 2015.