▲ South Korean Prime Minister Han Seong-sook (L) speaks during a business roundtable meeting in Seoul on Sept. 15, 2026, as Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev looks on. (Yonhap)

(ATTN: UPDATES with business forum with Uzbekistan; CHANGES headline, lead)

SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Prime Minister Han Seong-sook called Tuesday for building strategic supply chains with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan for critical minerals as she attended business roundtable meetings held on the sidelines of the first summit between Korea and Central Asian nations.

"As President Lee Jae Myung said, critical minerals serve as strategic assets underpinning industry, technology and national security," Han said during a business roundtable meeting attended by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and other officials and business people from the two countries.

"Building on the trust established over decades of stable trade in energy resources, such as crude oil and uranium, it is now time to expand the horizon of our cooperation into the realm of critical minerals, including lithium and rare metals, which are essential for future high-tech industries," she said.

Should Kazakhstan's abundant resources be combined with South Korea's cutting-edge technologies, the two countries can build a critical minerals industry ecosystem that spans exploration, processing and the production of high-value-added materials, she said.

"If this is achieved, it will advance Kazakhstan's industrial development and create a mutually beneficial model for responding to uncertainties in the global supply chain," Han said.

Later in the day, Han attended a business forum with Uzbekistan that brought together Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and other officials and business leaders of the two countries, and made a similar call for expanding cooperation in critical minerals.

"Uzbekistan is a resource powerhouse that possesses minerals, such as tungsten, molybdenum, and lithium, that are essential for high-tech industries," Han said. "By establishing a critical mineral cooperation platform and combining Korea's mineral processing and material technologies with Uzbekistan's resources, we can advance Uzbekistan's industrial development while jointly building a stable supply chain for critical minerals."

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