South Korea to boost ties with ASEAN

MANILA, Philippines — South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressed his government’s readiness to further deepen ties between South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member-states.

“I’m determined to bring Korea and ASEAN relations to a new height,” Moon said during the 19th ASEAN-South Korea Summit.

Moon said that since his inauguration as president, he has dispatched a special envoy to ASEAN, noting that he was the first Korean president to make such a move.

“As ASEAN and Korea both enter an era of new leaps and development, I believe it is the most appropriate time to upscale the level of bilateral cooperation,” Moon said.

“I’m confident that enhanced cooperation will bring about new benefits and… prosperity to both sides,” he said.

Moon paid tribute to the “magnificent achievements made by ASEAN” in the past 50 years.

“ASEAN has steadily progressed the integration into major complex global circumstances and has elevated position in the international community,” Moon said.

For his part, President Duterte, as chair of this year’s ASEAN Summit, lauded the efforts of Moon to further deepen ASEAN-Korea ties, noting the South Korean leader’s move to dispatch a special envoy to ASEAN.

“The ASEAN-ROK ties have grown over the past 28 years with our dialogue relations elevated to the strategic partners for peace and prosperity,” Duterte said, noting that trade and investment and socio-cultural cooperation between ASEAN and South Korea continue to grow. 

Last night, ASEAN and the United States called for de-escalation of tensions in the Korean peninsula and asked the parties to begin diplomatic talks. – With Alexis Romero