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ASEAN-South Korea: Sharing a common destiny
To South Korea, ASEAN is a very close partner and neighbor, and the two sides have close cooperation and exchange in a variety of areas.
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Inside of Incheon International Airport, South Korea. (Shutterstock/-)
D
uring the Korean Thanksgiving holiday in early October, the airport was flooded with people leaving the country in huge waves. So where were these people going? In fact, the number one travel destination for the Korean people was, once again, the countries of Southeast Asia. More than 600,000 people traveled to ASEAN during the holiday. To South Korea, ASEAN is a very close partner and neighbor, and the two sides have close cooperation and exchange in a variety of areas.
ASEAN and South Korea became dialogue partners in 1989. From then until today, for almost three decades, there has been remarkable development in this partnership, with significant milestones achieved. ASEAN is now South Korea’s second largest trading partner and destination for investment. South Korea is ASEAN’s fifth-largest trading and investment partner.
While the trade volume between the two sides in 1989 was US$8.2 billion, in 2016 it recorded $119 billion, a 15-fold increase. Also, South Korea’s investment to ASEAN increased from $92 million in 1989 to $5.1 billion in 2016, up by 55 times. To note, South Korea’s investment in ASEAN surpassed that in China, by more than two times this year. In this regard, ASEAN-South Korea relations serve as a model for a fast-developing and fast-evolving partnership.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, soon after his inauguration, recognized the importance of the nation’s partnership with ASEAN. Such acknowledgement will serve as a critical foundation for another level of development for ASEAN-South Korea relations. President Moon will visit Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines for the summit of ASEAN and that of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
