Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met with a deputy prime minister of Uzbekistan in Seoul on Monday and discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation, her office said.

Sardor Umurzakov, Uzbekistan's deputy prime minister for investment and foreign economic relations, is the first senior foreign government official to visit South Korea since the coronavirus outbreak began.

"We have created a very special strategic partnership and even under the difficult circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, the collaboration between South Korea and Uzbekistan has been really exemplary," Kang said during the meeting.

"The experience with COVID-19 has strengthened our close ties," she said.

In April, Tashkent arranged a special flight to help some 200 stranded South Koreans, including a medical expert, return home, in a show of appreciation to the expert who had been dispatched to help the Central Asian nation cope with the virus.

In Monday's talks, the two sides also discussed joint efforts to strengthen cooperation in various fields, especially in the health and disease control sectors, according to her ministry. (Yonhap)