Over the past three years, the New Southern Policy has laid a meaningful foundation for the progress of ties of friendship and cooperation between ASEAN and Korea.

In 2019, the number of visitors between ASEAN and Korea reached about 13 million, cementing ASEAN’s position as the most popular destination for Koreans. The bilateral trade volume exceeded US$150 billion last year. ASEAN is Korea’s second-largest trading partner, while Korea is ASEAN’s fifth.

In the area of peace, ASEAN has been a steadfast supporter of the Korean Peninsula peace process. Singapore and Vietnam hosted the United States-Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Summit in June 2018 and February 2019 respectively. Likewise, Korea has welcomed and expressed its support for ASEAN-led initiatives, such as the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) adopted in June last year.

Despite various hurdles and challenges created by the COVID-19 crisis, ASEAN and Korea have made considerable progress in strengthening their partnership. Among other efforts, our joint fight against the pandemic has been noteworthy. Utilizing the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund, which was doubled under the New Southern Policy, we have launched the project for “Enhancing the Detection Capacity for COVID-19 in ASEAN Countries” worth US$5 million.

Furthermore, Korea was the first dialogue partner of ASEAN that made a substantial contribution to the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund. In addition, this year alone, we have successfully launched various cooperation projects, ranging from human resource development to disaster management, totalling approximately $34 million.

Against this background, I have every confidence that the NSP+, warmly welcomed by all ASEAN leaders, will further upgrade and enlarge our cooperation in seven key areas.

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