President Park Geun-hye will hold a summit with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana on Thursday and discuss ways to further solidify bilateral strategic partnership.
 
The two leaders are set to focus discussions on ways to smoothly carry out bilateral economic projects, including the construction of the Balkhash coal-fired power plant.
 
After the summit, they will attend a forum with South Korean and Kazakh businesspeople. Park will also tour a university in the Central Asian country.
 
Upon arriving in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Park first attended a meeting with Koreans living in Kazakhstan and stressed that the Central Asian nation is important to South Korea's future development. 
 
Park stressed that travel between the two countries will become more convenient as an envisioned visa exemption agreement will be signed during her visit.
 
In an interview with local media, Park also urged North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions as she cited that Kazakhstan achieved economic growth after voluntarily giving up its nuclear weapons.