Seoul: To deepen its economic and political ties with south-east Asia, South Korea is hosting a special summit with countries in the region for the third time since 2009.
President Moon Jae-in held a welcoming banquet in the south-eastern coastal town of Busan on Monday for leaders and other high-ranking representatives of the 10 countries in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean), according to South Korean broadcasters.
The two-day summit marks the 30th anniversary of a partnership between the two sides.
In November 2017, Seoul announced a “New Southern Policy” that placed Asean at the top of the country’s diplomatic priority list.
Together, the Asean countries were South Korea’s second largest trading partner last year, which is itself the fourth largest economy in Asia and heavily dependent on exports.
At the beginning of the meeting in Busan, Moon presented his plans for the expansion of cooperation in front of about 500 representatives from the fields of politics and economics from South Korea and Asean at a so-called CEO summit.
Moon spoke of three ways of cooperation for a “community growing together.”
The first is a “people-centered, inclusive cooperation.” Moon said his country wants to provide help for the establishment of educational and research institutes.
— dpa
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