Nam Sung-hyun (front left), minister of the Korea Forest Service, and Nysanbaev Erlan Nuralievich (right), the Kazakh minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, pose for a photo after signing an MOU at the Presidential Palace in Astana, Kazakhstan on Wednesday. (Yonhap)

The Korea Forest Service and the Kazakh government agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in forestry management through a memorandum of understanding signed at the Presidential Palace in Astana, Kazakhstan, Wednesday.

Under the agreement, formalized on the sidelines of the summit between Presidents Yoon Suk Yeol and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the two governments will work on forest disaster response, such as managing forest fires and promoting biodiversity through seed exchange and satellite imagery utilization.

The deal was signed by Korea Forest Service Minister Nam Sung-hyun and Kazakh Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Nysanbaev Erlan Nuralievich.

"We expect that forestry cooperation between Korea and Kazakhstan will expand, and that policies contributing to the public's well-being through collaboration on forest disaster response and biodiversity promotion will be mutually exchanged," Nam said.

The Korean agency has been conducting forestry projects with Kazakhstan, including the creation of the Kazakh and Korean Friendship Garden in Astana and forest plantations on the dried seabed of the Aral Sea, following the Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum in 2013.

"We foresee that the forestry cooperation, which has developed based on trust between the two countries, will be further strengthened through this memorandum, laying a foundation for mutual prosperity," the Kazakh minister said.

Following the signing, Nam participated in a symbolic tree-planting event Thursday in an Astana forest, as testament to the ongoing cooperation between the two nations. Alongside Kazakh officials, he planted pine trees and other species.

"We hope that the forest created through the cooperation between the two countries will become a sentimental home for our compatriots and ethnic Koreans in Kazakhstan, soothing their nostalgia for Korea," Nam said. "We also hope that the Kazakh government will continue to maintain these spaces for the health and leisure of its citizens."

By Park Se-ra (serap1005@heraldcorp.com)