JAKARTA, 17 March 2023 – ASEAN and the Republic of Korea (ROK) reaffirmed commitment to further advance their partnership and enhance cooperation at the 10th ASEAN-ROK Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting held yesterday at the ASEAN Secretariat.
The meeting noted the significant progress made in the ASEAN-ROK cooperation over the past year through a follow-up on the outcomes of the 23rd ASEAN-ROK Summit and the activities to implement various areas of cooperation under the ASEAN-ROK Plan of Action (2021-2025).
By the third year of implementation, 87.5% of the action lines in the Plan of Action have been addressed, showcasing a surge in substantive cooperation between both sides in step with post-pandemic recovery.
The meeting welcomed the ROK’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI) that aim at substantially strengthening the ASEAN-ROK cooperation. Under the KASI, the ROK will double the size of its annual contributions to the ASEAN-ROK Cooperation Fund by 2027 to support more projects and activities.
Both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the four priority areas under the ASEAN Outlook in the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), noting the shared principles and objectives between the AOIP and the ROK’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.
In addition, both sides also agreed to continue advancing cooperation in various areas including trade and investment, digitalisation and innovation, energy, tourism, education, disaster management, environment and climate change, public health, smart cities, connectivity, culture and people-to-people exchanges, and capacity building.
The 10th ASEAN-ROK JCC meeting was co-chaired by Permanent Representative of Viet Nam, Nguyen Hai Bang, and Ambassador of the ROK to ASEAN, Kwon Hee-seog. Permanent Representatives of ASEAN Member States and the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Political Security Community were in attendance.
