The 40-day countdown for the ASEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit has kicked off with emphasis on the three Ps — People, Prosperity and Peace — coined by South Korean President Moon Jae-in. However, there is no definitive answer as to whether North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un will attend.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, South Korean Ambassador for ASEAN Lim Sung-nam said there were no guarantees about Kim showing up to the event.

“However, President Moon had said during his visit to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam that if Kim could attend, it would be an important element to the summit,” he said. The summit will take place in South Korea’s second-largest city, Busan, on Nov. 25 and 26.

Inviting the North Korean leader to the Korea-ASEAN summit was first raised at the ASEAN+3 meeting in Singapore in November. Moon stated in an interview with the Bangkok Post in August that Kim’s attendance would be a significant milestone for peace in Asia.

Apart from the issue of peace on the Korean Peninsula, the summit — which will also mark the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-Korea ties — would also discuss issues related to terrorism, extremism and cybersecurity, Lim added.

“There will be discussions on governments’ efforts to fight against transborder crimes,” he said.

Lim also said there would be a joint statement from the 10 ASEAN leaders and Moon. “However, it is too early to say something about [what] the statement is about.”

Lim also said the commemorative summit would play a pivotal role in deciding on the next target for the next 30 years.

“The New Southern Policy will be the founding base for the policy’s 2.0 for the next 30 years,” he said.

Bilateral trade volume between ASEAN and Korea doubled from US$75 billion in 1989 to $160 billion in 2018, the same year the number of people-to-people exchanges hit 10 million.

Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don welcomed his city’s appointment as the host for the summit, noting that the city had hosted it in 2014.

“Of course we have to deal with security, traffic as well as tourism. We want those visiting Busan to have a good impression of the city,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the ASEAN-Korea Train departed Seoul as part of the lead-up to the commemorative summit.

The three-day journey would stop over in Gyeongju, Busan, Suncheon and Gwangju, involving 200 participants, including students, performers and ASEAN delegates, from 11 countries.

Lee Hyuk, secretary-general of the ASEAN-Korea Centre (AKC), emphasized that the ASEAN-Korea Train would bring “the wishes of the peoples for the success of the ASEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit and also for the realization of a peaceful and prosperous ASEAN-Korea community centered on the peoples”.

Korea has long viewed ASEAN as a potential market, but the country has yet to heavily pursue it as it remains focused on its own rapid industrialization and economic growth.

“We’ve got to try to move away from excessive focus on the economic aspect and make bold investments for cultural, academic and people exchanges,” Lee, who served as ambassador to Vietnam and the Philippines before heading the center, told The Korea Herald.

Leading those efforts is the AKC, an intergovernmental organization established 10 years ago that promotes economic and sociocultural cooperation between ASEAN and Korea.

Hosted by Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and organized by the AKC, the ASEAN-Korea Train highlights Moon’s New Southern Policy, which emphasizes the three Ps.

Artists and performers from 11 countries — including Indonesian singer, YouTuber and doctor Tiffani Dwiarine Afifa, who won the 2017 K-pop World Festival’s grand prize — will showcase their talents onboard.

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