ASEAN-REPUBLIC OF KOREA DIALOGUE RELATIONS

Introduction

1. ASEAN and the Republic of Korea (ROK) initiated sectoral dialogue relations in November 1989. The ROK was accorded a full Dialogue Partner status by ASEAN at the 24th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in July 1991 in Kuala Lumpur. Since the ASEAN-ROK partnership was elevated to a summit level in 1997 in Kuala Lumpur, relations between ASEAN and the ROK have broadened and deepened.

2. The relationship reached a new height with the signing of the Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Cooperation Partnership at the 8th ASEAN-ROK Summit on 30 November 2004 in Vientiane and the adoption of the ASEAN-ROK Plan of Action (POA) to implement the Joint Declaration at the 9th ASEAN-ROK Summit on 13 December 2005 in Kuala Lumpur. ASEAN and the ROK made good progress in the implementation of the POA.

3. ASEAN and the ROK commemorated the 20th Anniversary of ASEAN-ROK dialogue relations in 2009. The ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit was held on 1-2 June 2009 in Jeju Island, the ROK. The Summit issued a Joint Statement of the ASEAN- Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit.

4. The 13th ASEAN-ROK Summit on 29 October 2010 in Ha Noi agreed to elevate ASEAN-ROK dialogue relations from comprehensive cooperation to strategic partnership. In order to concretise the elevation, the Leaders adopted the Joint Declaration on ASEAN-ROK Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity and its Action Plan, which covers the period of 2011-2015.

Political and Security Cooperation

5. ASEAN-ROK cooperation in the political and security fields has been strengthened by regular dialogues and exchange of views on regional and international issues through existing ASEAN-ROK mechanisms such as the ASEAN-ROK Summit, ASEAN-ROK Ministerial Meeting, ASEAN-ROK Dialogue and other mechanisms under broader regional frameworks such as the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) process, the East Asia Summit (EAS), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus).

6. The ROK acceded to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) at the ASEAN-ROK Ministerial Meeting on 27 November 2004 in Vientiane. The accession of the ROK to the TAC demonstrated its strong commitment to further strengthen political and security engagement with ASEAN and contributed to regional peace, stability and prosperity.

7. The ROK strongly supports ASEAN’s efforts to establish a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN) and a nuclear weapons-free zone in Southeast Asia. It also supports ASEAN as the driving force of the regional processes initiated by ASEAN such as APT, ARF, EAS and ADMM Plus.

8. In addressing the issue of terrorism, the ASEAN-ROK Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism was signed by ASEAN and the ROK Foreign Ministers at the sidelines of the 38th AMM in July 2005 in Vientiane. As a follow-up, ASEAN and the ROK Senior Officials on Transnational Crime meet regularly to explore cooperation and exchange views on combating transnational crime.

9. Pursuant to the decision of the 11th ASEAN-ROK Summit in November 2007 in Singapore, the ASEAN-ROK Eminent Persons Group (EPG) was established. The EPG concluded its work by convening four meetings. The final report of the EPG with recommendations was submitted to the 12th ASEAN-ROK Summit in October 2009 in Thailand. The report has proposed a set of recommendations to further advance and deepen ASEAN-ROK relations, including strategies and guiding principles, and key elements of the partnership. The recommendations contained in the EPG Report were taken onboard in developing the Joint Declaration on ASEAN-ROK Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity and its Action Plan, which were adopted at the 13th ASEAN-ROK Summit.

Economic Cooperation

10. ASEAN-ROK trade remains robust despite the global economic and financial crisis. Compared to the 22.6% decline in global trade in 2009, the total trade between ASEAN and ROK showed a strong performance in 2009 with only a slight decline of 4.5% from the previous year, reaching the level of USD 74.7 billion from USD 78.3 billion 2008. The 2009 value of total trade between ASEAN and ROK was much higher than its pre- crisis level, which was USD 61.2 billion in 2007. Total flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) from ROK declined by 10.21 percent in 2009 with ASEAN receiving a substantial amount of FDI of USD 1.4 billion last year. ASEAN was the third largest trading partner of the ROK in 2008 and conversely, the ROK was the fifth largest trading partner of ASEAN.

11. The Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation was signed by the Leaders at the 9th ASEAN-ROK Summit on 13 December 2005. The Framework Agreement provides for an ASEAN-ROK Free Trade Area by the year 2008 (with flexibility to 2010) for the ROK, 2010 (with flexibility to 2012) for Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, 2016 for Viet Nam and 2018 for Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar.

12. The Agreement on a Dispute Settlement Mechanism under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Partnership was signed by the economic ministers of ASEAN and the ROK at the 9th ASEAN-ROK Summit on 13 December 2005 in Kuala Lumpur. 13. The Agreement on Trade in Goods (TIG) under the ASEAN-Korea Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation was signed by nine ASEAN Member Countries and the ROK on 24 August 2006 in Kuala Lumpur. Thailand signed the Protocol on the Accession of Thailand to the TIG Agreement at the sidelines of the 14th ASEAN Summit in on 27 February 2009 in Cha-am Hua Hin, Thailand. The ASEAN-ROK Agreement on Trade in Goods came into force on 1 June 2007.

14. The ASEAN-ROK Agreement on Trade in Services was signed by nine ASEAN Member States and the ROK at the sidelines of the 11th ASEAN-ROK Summit on 21 November 2007 in Singapore. Thailand signed the Protocol on the Accession to the Trade in Services Agreement at the sidelines of the 14th ASEAN Summit on 27 February 2009 in Cha-am Hua Hin, Thailand. The ASEAN-ROK Agreement on Trade in Services came into force date on 1 May 2009, except for Indonesia. Negotiations on the Investment Agreement was concluded in April 2009 and signed during the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit on 1-2 June 2009 in Jeju Island. The ASEAN-ROK Agreement on Trade in Investment came into force on 1 September 2009 and the Agreement has now entered into force for all Parties.

15. The ASEAN-ROK Free Trade Area (AKFTA) was realised on 1 January 2010. However, as noted by the Leaders of ASEAN and the ROK at their 13th Summit, utilisation of the AKFTA is still low. Therefore, the Leaders have requested ASEAN- ROK Economic Ministers to expedite their work in accelerating a higher utilisation for AKFTA's concession.

16. ASEAN and the ROK agreed to establish an ASEAN-Korea Centre at the 10th ASEAN-ROK Summit on 14 January 2007 in Cebu. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ASEAN and the ROK establishing the ASEAN-Korea Centre was signed at the sidelines of the 11th ASEAN-ROK Summit on 21 November 2007 in Singapore. With the ratification of the MOU by all ASEAN Member States and the ROK, the MOU entered into force on 3 December 2008. The official opening of the Centre was held on 13 March 2009 in Seoul. The Seoul-based Centre plays a pivotal role to increase the volume of trade, accelerate investment flow, invigorate tourism and enrich cultural exchanges between ASEAN and the ROK.

Development Cooperation

17. ASEAN-ROK development cooperation has deepened and expanded to cover the areas of trade and investment, transport, tourism, agriculture, science and technology, ICT, environment, health, human resource development, culture, people-to-people exchange and narrowing the development gaps in ASEAN.

18. People-to-people contacts continue to be an important area of ASEAN-ROK cooperation. Annual exchange programmes are held in the areas of culture, government officials, media, youth, and academics. 19. ASEAN-ROK development cooperation projects and programmes are being supported by the ASEAN-ROK Special Cooperation Fund and Future Oriented Project Cooperation Fund, which were established in 1990 and 1997, respectively.

1 ASEANStats, Update as of July 2010

As of 29 November 2010