South Korea has taken a very interesting step lately with its embrace of Emomali Rahmon’s regime in Tajikistan. Earlier this month, Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi was in Seoul to attend the 6th Republic of Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Korea-Tajikistan official diplomatic relations. Over the past decade, South Korea’s diplomatic and business clout in Central Asia has surged and presented a formidable challenge to the pre-eminence of the traditional players in the region such as Russia, the U.S. and China.

Tajikistan is just one of the nations in the region that Seoul has targeted with its investment-driven policy of outreach. Central Asia continues to be one of the most highly competitive areas for foreign suitors as it is flush with resources. Unfortunately, the region has been significantly hindered by decades of instability and corruption. Last year, Lee signaled his administration’s prioritization of ties with Central Asia by embarking on an extended trip that included stops in Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Seoul’s approach is fundamentally based on economic interests in the region, but does not ignore the strategic implications of improved engagement with Central Asia. 

Korean ties with Tajikistan have deepened considerably over the past decade and were bolstered by the opening of the first Korean Embassy in Dushanbe in 2008. Seoul continues to provide assistance to Tajikistan through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in the fields of technical cooperation, education, health, industry and energy, information technology and protection of environment. Seoul has also been pushing Tajikistan to finalize a pact that would provide a visa exemption for Koreans who hold diplomatic and official passports. This agreement was reached at the end of the foreign ministers meeting and the hope is that this move will help to facilitate trade and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

Trade relations continue to progress and have expanded more than tenfold since 2000. Korea currently imports more than US$ 100 million of goods from Tajikistan and exports around US$ 40 million in products including automobiles, machinery and electronics. Seoul’s main interest in Tajikistan continues to be its natural resources and energy markets. Currently, the majority of Korean imports are from Tajikistan’s solitary cotton and aluminum sectors. However, Dushanbe has been looking to diversify its economy and center this on rich deposits of gold, silver and antimony located in its Sughd province. Tajikistan also has a significant amount of natural uranium which would help satiate South Korea’s booming nuclear industry.

In order to break ground here though, Seoul will have to compete with Russia’s historical pre-eminence in Tajikistan’s mining industry. While this is a formidable challenge, Korea has already been able to knock down some of these walls in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan through its creative diplomacy and aggressive business savvy. It will take a sustained push from Seoul to keep its momentum in Central Asia. Up to this point, most bilateral meetings with Tajik officials have been limited to the minister-level. Increased market access for Korea might require an official state visit or a meeting on the sidelines of an international conference with Rahmon.

Despite potential benefits, increased engagement with Tajikistan also comes with risks for Korea. Tajikistan’s security situation remains unstable. Rahmon has ruled Tajikistan since 1992, and has been privately described as a corrupt kleptocrat by U.S. officials. Rahmon, however, is a savvy politician who is keenly aware of his nation’s strategic importance in light of the mission in Afghanistan. He has ruthlessly cracked down on Islamist militant groups within Tajik borders and heralds his government as a modern Islamic state. The fact that human rights and press freedom continue to toil in the same category as the world’s most despotic regimes is hardly a secret in international diplomatic circles, but – as with other countries in the region – security seems to be the trump card, at least for now. Seoul will need to massage its relationship with Dushanbe to ensure that its targeted engagement is not viewed the wrong way by the international community.