Busan is welcoming back ASEAN leaders after hosting the previous summit in 2014. Our southern port city of Busan is, indeed, ASEAN-friendly as people can indulge in diverse ASEAN cultures at the ASEAN Culture House. Busan, the sixth-largest port in the world, is also connected to seven major ASEAN cities by air.

Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don visited Jakarta a week ago and had a meaningful talk with ASEAN representatives. The city plans to establish the ASEAN Village to incubate promising artists and businesspeople in film, game and tourism industries to nurture their creativity. With its soft power, Busan is dreaming of a much closer partnership with ASEAN.

ASEAN has been shown a mixture of subtleness and friendliness. Among ASEAN members, they don’t strong-arm each other. For external relations, they never divide “we” and “others”. Instead, they leverage their geo-strategic value in bringing in whoever the parties are, as long as they are matching for regional peace and stability. These principles apply to ASEAN’s engagement on the Korean Peninsula.

ASEAN has engaged with both Koreas. Many of the ASEAN member states has embassies in Pyongyang. It was ASEAN that encouraged North Korea to join the ASEAN Regional Forum in 2000. Recently, Singapore and Hanoi were chosen to host the historic United States-North Korea summits in 2018 and 2019.

I believe ASEAN’s goodwill to support sustainable peace and stability on our peninsula has impressed the US and North Korea. In the upcoming Commemorative Summit, South Korea expects ASEAN’s meaningful message in this regard.

Economy is equally as important. ASEAN, the sixth-largest economy in the world, is the second-largest trading partner of South Korea, whereas it is the fifth-largest trading partner to ASEAN. In 2017, two-way trade volume stood at US$150 billion.

South Korea aims for $200 billion by 2020. Since ASEAN enjoys a youth demographic advantage and high economic growth, it seems optimistic to achieve this “economy of scale” as stated in the ASEAN Vision 2025.

However, to realize this vision, preparedness for the fourth industrial revolution and skilled workers should be ensured.

South Korea is ready to support ASEAN on these issues by sharing experience in social economic development.

For instance, more than 2,000 registered South Korean companies are operating in Indonesia. Business sectors encompass manufacturing, raw commodities, energy, textile, logistics and retail. In Indonesia alone, more than 800,000 Indonesians work for South Korean companies.

The [...] summit will deliver significant initiatives to benefit ASEAN nationals [...]

ASEAN is already set with a massive supply chain in pursuit of a single market and single production base. I believe collaboration with South Korea will increase synergy and lead to coprosperity and betterment of the people. During the summit, business-related events and gatherings will also be organized and 10 ASEAN leaders may attend. The summit will be a stepping stone for ASEAN and South Korean businesses to network and unlock their potential.

Since 1989, when South Korea became a dialogue partner to ASEAN, people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges have been increasing exponentially. ASEAN is the region that South Koreans visit the most.

More than 500,000 ASEAN nationals live in South Korea. The K-Wave has been embraced by ASEAN for more than 10 years.

I often spot a number of Korean brands and entertainment figures across ASEAN member states. By acceptance of this first charm, ASEAN nationals have become interested in learning about South Korea itself. More ASEAN citizens visit it for holiday and study.

Most of the people-to-people contacts have been organized on ad-hoc basis. I think frequency is vital. Hence, it is time to institutionalize sustainable people-to-people networks.

The commemorative summit will deliver significant initiatives to benefit ASEAN nationals; such as ease of visa applications to Korea, an increase of scholarship opportunities and institutionalization of Korean studies in ASEAN and ASEAN studies in South Korea.

Throughout the year, we will celebrate our paramount ASEAN-Korea relations. The summit in November will give a vision for the next 30 years of ASEAN and South Korea relations, which will encourage and give inspiration in every field, from people-to-people, business-to-business and government-to-government. This is to revel our relationship and enhance it to a higher level.

We will stand for each other while supporting peace and stability in the region, economic development for realizing co-prosperity and robust people-to-people networks for betterment of all.

______________________

The writer is the South Korean ambassador to ASEAN.

Popular

Indonesia not affected by Southeast Asia-wide heat wave: BMKG

Residents fear for safety as Mount Ruang volcano erupts

In defense of Indonesian democracy