Central Asia

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Culture officials from South Korea and five Central Asian countries met in Seoul on Wednesday, holding their first discussion over a joint research project aimed at gathering and organizing little-known myths and folktales from Asia.

Five Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, are taking part in the Seoul-proposed plan, Yonhap reported.

The meeting that runs through Thursday in central Seoul will lay the groundwork for organizing the stories into an archive at South Korea’s national culture center. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2012, Seoul officials said.

“We will be able to together form a ’storytelling road,’ a brand new cultural belt linking South Korea and Central Asia with mysterious Asian mythic tales,” South Korean Vice Culture Minister Kim Dae-ki said in a welcoming speech.