President Park Geun-hye said she plans to expand coexistence and cooperation with Central Asian countries on her three-nation tour.
 
Park made the comment in a meeting with Korean residents in Uzbekistan on Monday saying her trip was designed to strengthen strategic partnerships and open a new future for Eurasian cooperation.  
 
The president is seeking to lay the groundwork for the “Eurasia Initiative” as she begins the first leg of her trip in Uzbekistan and continues on to Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
 
The initiative, which Park proposed in October, calls for binding European and Asian countries closely together to create an economic bloc and a region of peace.
 
Park also touched on the issue of North Korea during the meeting. She said that while the North is not willing to give up its nuclear weapons, Seoul will continue to work toward leading the North on a path toward genuine change.
 
Park is scheduled to hold a summit with Uzbek President Islam Karimov on Tuesday to discuss measures to strengthen strategic partnership between the two countries.