Kazakhstan ties constitutional reform to stability before vote ASTANA, Kazakhstan, Aug. 23 (AJP) — The Kazakh government presented its constitutional overhaul to foreign correspondents as a way of protecting stability rather than disturbing it, a day before voters choose the country's first single-chamber parliament. Arman Issetov, deputy minister of foreign affairs, made the argument on Saturday (local time) at a briefing for journalists on a press tour covering the election, held at a hotel in Astana on Saturday afternoon. Pol August 23, 2026

President Tokayev urges Kazakhs to vote in first Kurultai election SEOUL, August 22 (AJP) - With one day to go before Kazakhstan chooses a new single-chamber parliament, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called on citizens to turn out, casting Sunday's vote as the start of a fresh cycle of reform under a constitution that took effect seven weeks ago. Tokayev issued the appeal in an address to the nation published Aug. 21 (local time), the final day on which campaigning was permitted. He called the election a truly historic event. Voters choo August 22, 2026

Kazakhstan to elect first Kurultai under new constitution SEOUL, August 20 (AJP) - Voters in Kazakhstan choose all 145 seats of the Kurultai on Sunday, filling the single-chamber legislature that replaced the country's two houses of parliament and completing an institutional change written into a constitution that took effect seven weeks ago. The Central Election Commission has registered 12,605,788 voters and 545 candidates across seven party lists. Every seat is contested in one nationwide district under closed-list proportional re August 20, 2026

Kazakhstan gives month to prepare Chinese waste plant deals SEOUL, August 19 (AJP) - Kazakhstan has given itself a month to prepare agreements for a new set of Chinese-built waste-to-energy plants, the government said Wednesday, extending a program that has yet to put a single incinerator into operation anywhere in the country. Three plants are already under construction, in Astana, Almaty and Shymkent, at a combined cost of 293.3 billion tenge ($637.4 million). Together they are designed to burn 4,500 tons of municipal waste a day and g August 19, 2026

Kazakhstan lines up social infrastructure push for 2027-2029 SEOUL, August 18 (AJP) - Hospitals, children's rehabilitation centers and sports facilities will top Kazakhstan's construction priorities for the 2027~2029 budget period, committing the state to another round of building at a time when its own auditors report that much of the last round went unfinished. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev set the priority at a meeting on the economy and budget planning at Akorda on Monday, according to the presidential press service. He was br August 18, 2026

Kazakhstan joins Korea's list of countries eligible for foreign worker visa SEOUL, August 14 (AJP) - Kazakhstan has been added to the list of countries eligible to send workers under South Korea's E-9 visa program, which allows companies facing labor shortages to hire foreign workers. At a government meeting on Friday chaired by Lim Ki-keun, who is in charge of policy coordination under the Prime Minister's Office, Kazakhstan became the 18th country entitled to send E-9 visa holders given to non-professional laborers to South Korea under the country August 14, 2026

Central Asia emerges as South Korea's AI frontier SEOUL, August 13 (AJP) -South Korea wants to become one of the world's top three artificial-intelligence powers, and Central Asia may offer something lacking at home - ample space, energy and governments willing to build the physical infrastructure that AI requires. But Seoul is arriving at a market where U.S., Gulf, Chinese and Japanese players are already staking out positions. Kazakhstan is planning a data-center zone with eventual capacity of 1 gigawatt. Uzbekistan is August 13, 2026

Korea, Tajikistan industry officials meet ahead of C5 summit SEOUL, August 11 (AJP) - Ahead of the first Korea-Central Asia Summit in September, South Korea and Tajikistan on Tuesday discussed expanding economic cooperation in critical minerals, supply chains and new technologies. South Korean Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Moon Shin-hak met Isojon Qurbonzoda, Tajikistan's first deputy minister of industry and new technologies, in Seoul to discuss projects that could produce tangible economic outcomes at the upcoming summi August 11, 2026

Korea, Uzbekistan put AI minerals atop business agenda for C5 summit SEOUL, August 11 (AJP) - Artificial intelligence, from the critical minerals needed to build its infrastructure to the data centers and digital technologies that power it, is emerging as the centerpiece of the business agenda for Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev's visit to South Korea next month. Mirziyoyev is expected to bring a roughly 200-strong business delegation to Seoul during his first state visit to South Korea in nearly five years, coinciding with the inaugural Kor August 11, 2026

Uzbek President Mirziyoyev holds open business dialogue in August SEOUL, August 07 (AJP) - Uzbekistan will hold its annual open dialogue between President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and entrepreneurs in late August, the Uzbek Embassy in Seoul said on Friday, with no date yet fixed three weeks out. Nearly 6,000 inquiries have reached the organizing commission's call centers and official bots since intake opened, according to material the embassy distributed. More than 4,200 were resolved, and roughly 1,800 remain under review. Expert groups are worki August 7, 2026