SOUTH KOREA-KAZAKHSTAN SUMMIT

[Anchor Lead]

President Moon Jae-in held a summit with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and learned lessons from the Central Asian country's denuclearization experience. Kazakhstan used to house a nuclear test site when it was under the Soviet Union's control. After the Soviet Union collapsed, it took over a massive amount of nuclear weapons but voluntarily abandoned them. The so-called Kazakh model is drawing attention as a method for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

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​During a summit with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President Moon jae-in praised Kazakhstan as a exemplary country for denuclearization.

[Soundbite] PRES. MOON JAE-IN : "Kazakhstan has the experience of achieving economic development through voluntary denuclearization. It's a source of inspiration for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

Kazakhstan became the world's fourth largest nuclear power, as it took over a massive amount of nuclear weapons, following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. However, the Central Asian country decisively gave up the nukes and chose the path of economic development. The U.S. legislated an act to provide Kazakhstan with technological and financial assistance for denuclearization. The financial support amounted to 1.6 billion U.S. dollars over four years. Observers say the Kazakh model could be an alternative for the deadlocked denuclearization of North Korea. In fact, Seoul and Washington discussed the Kazakh model last June shortly before the first North Korea-U.S. summit. However, a high-level Cheong Wa Dae official explained, it's not easy to simply compare North Korea and Kazakhstan, since there are different factors to be considered, such as their nuclear weapons development processes. Still, the Kazakh model is significant as the Central Asian country achieved denuclearization with mutual measures taken simultaneously.