hope that the trip would help to increase cooperation in the petrochemical industry, information technology and education/ South Korea-Uzbekistan relations Han and Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, met in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 25 September 2006. They signed several agreements, including one deal in which Uzbekistan will send 300 tons of Uzbek uranium ore to South Korea every year from 2010 to 2014. The deal bypasses U.S. companies that acted previously as middlemen for South Korean imports of Uzbek uranium ore. Han also met with President Islam Karimov and parliament speaker Erkin Xalilov. Han and Mirziyoyev boosted cooperation in the energy, agriculture, construction, architecture, and information technology sectors. Trade between South Korea and Uzbekistan increased by nearly 40% between 2005 and 2006, to $565 million. Resignation Han resigned from her position as prime minister on March 7, 2007, amidst speculation that she would run in the December 2007 presidential elections. After the informal meeting with former justice minister Kang Kum-Sil just before her resignation, Han said she would continue as a legislator and think about running for president. Post-Prime Ministerial career In 2007, Han ran for the party presidential candidacy but did not succeed in the nominations. She endorsed Chung Dong-young. In 2008, she ran for re-election to parliament, but was defeated by a candidate of Grand National Party. In 2010, she declared to run for Seoul's Mayor position, but was very narrowly defeated by Oh Se-hoon of GNP by less than one percentage point. On the first congress of the Democratic United Party on 15 January 2012, Han was voted chairwoman of the supreme council of the party with 24.5 per cent support rate. The liberal party was created by a merger of the Democratic Party with the minor Citizens Unity Party, and is South Korea's main oppositional force. Han was elected to parliament in the April legislative elections, but the liberals did not manage to oust the ruling party and Han stepped down as DUP head on 16 April 2012. For three months the leaders of the two major Korean parties were women: Park Geun-hye of the Grand National Party and Han Myeong-sook for the DUP. References Further reading Skard, Torild (2014) "Han Myung-sook" in Women of power - half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide, Bristol: Policy Press, External links Official website of Korean Prime Minister Biography of Ms. Han |- |- 1944