President Yoon Suk Yeol has embarked on a trip to three Central Asian nations — Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

President Yoon, accompanied by First Lady Kim Keon-hee, departed for the first of his three state visits in his presidential plane from Seoul Airport in Seongnam on Monday.

Yoon will first fly to Turkmenistan for a two-day trip to hold a summit with the country's President Serdar Berdimuhamedow and sign a memorandum of understanding on bilateral cooperation.

During the trip, Yoon is expected to discuss substantial ways to expand opportunities for South Korean companies seeking to advance into the energy and plant sectors of Turkmenistan, which ranks fourth globally in terms of natural gas reserves. 

Yoon will then make a three-day visit to Kazakhstan for a summit with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev before visiting Uzbekistan from Thursday to Friday.