Our top story this hour,... President Moon Jae-in, on an eight-day tour of Central Asia has arrived in Kazakhstan,… the last stop of his trip.
Prior to his arrival,… the president was in Uzbekistan, where visited the historic city of Samarkand.
Traveling with the president,… Shin Se-min reports.
Taking in the grand historical sites of Samarkand,… presidents Moon Jae-in and Shavkat Mirziyoyev toured the grand historical sites of Samarkand, highlighting their countries' long historical ties.
Samarkand is the home town of the Uzbek president, and Moon was invited there by the leader himself.
They visited the Afrasiab Museum, whose 7th century fresco depicts foreign dignitaries from several countries,… including a few from ancient Korea.
Inspecting the fresco, President Moon said it's proof that the two countries' relations go way back.
In modern times, Korea and Uzbekistan established diplomatic ties in 1992,… and those ties were upgraded in Friday's meeting to a special strategic partnership.
The third and final country on President Moon's Central Asia tour is Kazakhstan... whose capital, previously called Astana, has been renamed Nursultan... after the country's long-time leader... who stepped down last month.
There, he is set to meet with both the current and the former presidents for talks on denuclearization.

One thing President Moon wants to achieve in Kazakhstan... is to bring home the remains of Korea's independence fighters, whose descendants this year are commemorating the 100th anniversary of the independence movement against Japan.
Shin Se-min, Arirang News