Vietnam committed to elevating ASEAN-RoK strategic partnership

Vietnam is committed to actively joining the ASEAN member nations in promoting and elevating the strategic partnership between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea (RoK) in a comprehensive and profound fashion in the new period, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung has said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung (second from left) speaks at the event. (Photo: MOFA)
Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung (second from left) speaks at the event. (Photo: MOFA)

The Vietnamese official made the remarks at the 22nd ASEAN-RoK Dialogue that took place in Seoul on June 20-21, during which he welcomed the RoK’s new “Look South” policy and hailed the RoK as one of ASEAN’s close and leading partners.

On behalf of ASEAN, Dung delivered a speech on the regional cooperation structure, as well as the regional security issues that have emerge recently, while calling for active coordination between the RoK and ASEAN in facilitating peace, stability and prosperity, and building a law-based, open, regional structure in Asia-Pacific.

During the dialogue, co-chaired by Cambodian Deputy FM Kan Pharidh and RoK Deputy FM Yoon Soon-yu, ASEAN and the RoK affirmed their appreciation for and commitment to accelerating the strategic partnership between them in a more extensive and effective manner.

The countries welcomed the new “Look South” policy to strengthen the ties with ASEAN, which was announced by RoK President Moon Jae-in at the 19th ASEAN-RoK Summit in late 2017, asking the RoK side to specifically implement the goals set in the policy. The RoK hailed ASEAN as its leading partner in the southern region, both strategically and economically, with a long-standing cultural cohesion between the people of all sides.

As of 2017, ASEAN remained the RoK’s second largest trade and investment partner and the most favoured destination among the RoK people. Around 6.5 million RoK tourists visited ASEAN nations last year. Meanwhile, the RoK is the fifth largest trade and investment partner of ASEAN, with two-way trade reaching US$150 billion, which is targeted to increase by US$200 billion by 2020.

Cooperation between ASEAN and the RoK is being accelerated comprehensively across all the three pillars of politics-security, economics, and people-to-people exchanges, in line with the RoK President’s expectations on the building of a cohesive community between the two sides, based on the three factors of peace, prosperity and the people.

Delegates at the 22nd ASEAN-RoK Dialogue. (Photo: MOFA)

Both sides agreed to step up the realisation of the 2016-2020 Plan of Action aimed at implementing the Joint Declaration on ASEAN-RoK Strategic Partnership, focusing on the areas directly linked to the people. An array of meaningful and practical activities will be organised by the two sides in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the ASEAN-RoK dialogue relations in 2019.

The RoK side announced its plan to launch a series of cooperation programmes and activities with the ASEAN countries in the future, including a conference connecting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the RoK, the sixth ASEAN Connectivity Forum, the elevation of Mekong-RoK cooperation to the leader level, the organisation of investment, tourism, and ASEAN culture promotion activities, and the acceleration of people-to-people exchange programmes, especially among the youth. The RoK affirmed its support for ASEAN Smart Cities Network, a priority initiative of ASEAN in 2018, while pledging to strengthen capacity building cooperation and experience sharing with ASEAN concerning innovation and creativity, digital economic development, and environmentally friendly green technology.

The RoK expressed its support for ASEAN’s central role, pledging to actively contribute to promoting dialogues and cooperation for peace and stability in the region through the ASEAN-led mechanisms, such as ASEAN+3, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus), and the East Asia Summit (EAS). The two sides also agreed to strengthen their cooperation in dealing with non-traditional security challenges, such as terrorism, transnational crimes, and cybercrime.

Discussing regional security issues, the RoK proactively shared, and ASEAN welcomed, the recent positive developments on the Korean Peninsula, especially the historical outcomes of the Inter-Korean Summit and the summit between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Summit. The RoK side asked ASEAN to play a more active role in order to contribute to the peace process and the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. The RoK affirmed its consistent support for maintaining peace, stability, security, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea; peacefully settling disputes and refraining from actions that further complicate the situation; respecting international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); and upholding the regional behavioural norms.