Korea and Uzbekistan signed an agreement today to jointly explore and develop oil and gas fields in the energy-abundant Central Asian nation during an official visit here by its president Islam Karimov.

Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Karimov also agreed during their summit meeting to increase bilateral relations to form a strategic partnership for closer cooperation.

Karimov arrived in Seoul on Tuesday for a three-day visit reciprocating Roh's visit to Tashkent in May last year.

The National Oil Corp. Korea Gas Corp. and Uzbeknefgaz signed the memorandum of understanding giving Korea exclusive rights to explore and extract from two oil and two gas fields in the former Soviet country.

The KNOC will begin its preliminary exploration in Chust-Pap and Namangen-Terachi in the eastern part of Uzbekistan along with state-run oil and gas company Uzbeknefgaz for six months, the Ministry of Commerce, Energy and Industry said. Based on the outcome of the exploration, the KNOC will decide whether to sign development contracts sometime around Dec. 2006, it said.

Chust-Pap is said to hold up to 385 barrels of crude oil, while Namangen is estimated to have about 435 barrels.

Korea Resources Corp. signed a separate agreement to jointly develop uranium, iron and gold mines in the central part of the country.

Korea's Commerce and Industry Minister Chung Sye-kyun and Uzbek Minister for Foreign Economic Relations Alisher Erkinovich Shaikhov exchanged an MOU on wider bilateral cooperation in the development of energy and other natural resources.

Korea has stepped up its so-called energy-diplomacy aimed at energy-abundant countries in Asia, South and Central America and most recently Africa.

During an hour-long summit at Cheong Wa Dae, Roh and Karimov discussed ways of fortifying bilateral cooperation and sought closer cooperation in supporting an estimated 200,000 ethnic Koreans in Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan has the largest ethnic Korean population in Central Asia, most of who are descendants of Koreans who settled in the Soviet Far East but were later forced to move to Central Asia by Stalin after World War II.

This is Karimov's fourth visit to Korea since the establishment of bilateral ties in 1992. Prior to Roh's visit to Tashkent, former President Kim Young-sam visited Uzbekistan in 1994.

Karimov also expressed his full support for the peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia and a peaceful resolution to North Korea's nuclear crisis.

The two presidents also promised joint efforts to develop democracy and human rights as well as mutual cooperation in international communities such as the United Nations.