President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday visited Samarkand, a UNESCO World Heritage city centrally located on what was once the ancient Silk Road between China and the West.
 
Park was accompanied by Uzbek President Islam Karimov.
 
The Uzbek president made the offer to accompany Park to the World Heritage city during a state dinner on Tuesday. Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev was initially set to escort Park.
 
During Tuesday’s dinner, Park said she hopes that South Korea and Uzbekistan will expand cooperation to open a new Silk Road express as she noted that an image of a Goguryeo envoy wearing a feathered crown can be seen in ancient murals in Samarkand.
 
During a business forum attended by South Korean and Uzbek businesspeople, Park said once her vision on uniting Eurasia into one economic bloc comes true, Uzbekistan would once again enjoy the prosperities of the Silk Road.

Park will wrap up her stay in Uzbekistan with the visit to Samarkand then head to Kazakhstan late Wednesday.