President Moon Jae-in exchanged congratulatory letters with the heads of three Central Asian nations - Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan - marking the 30th anniversary of their diplomatic relations with South Korea.

In the letters on Friday, Moon expressed satisfaction over the development of relations with each of the three nations in various areas since establishing diplomatic ties in 1992. He also expressed hope to beef up exchanges.

Moon particularly thanked Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for last year's return of the remains of revered Korean independence fighter Hong Beom-do. Tokayev, for his part, hoped to expand bilateral cooperation based on mutual trust.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev expressed unchanging support for Seoul's peace efforts, while Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov thanked Seoul for supporting his country's public administrative reforms and democratic development.