South Korea will build a park in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, by 2012 to enhance cultural exchanges between the two countries, Xinhua reported citing the Seoul metropolitan government.

"The 'Seoul Park' in Tashkent is aimed to promote South Korean traditional culture and strengthen ties between the two countries, while giving a stronger sense of pride to the ethnic (South) Korean compatriots living in Uzbekistan," the Seoul municipal government said in a statement.

Seoul will fund the construction of the park and the land will be provided free of change by the government in Tashkent, the statement added. Roughly 175,000 ethnic (South) Koreans live in Uzbekistan and an estimated 80,000 of them are in Tashkent.

Mayor of Seoul, Oh Se-hoon, and Abdukahhor Tukhtaev, mayor of Tashkent, are scheduled to sign Letters of Intent on the construction on 11 February at Oh's office in Seoul.

The exact cost and location of the park is yet to be decided.

uzreport.uz