Kim Geon Deputy Minister Holds Series of Bilateral Video Meetings with Senior Representatives from 10 ASEAN Countries... Emphasizes 'Essential Personnel Movement'

Discussion on Cooperation Plans and Future Prospects with ASEAN

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Kim Geon, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, held a series of individual video consultations with 10 senior officials representing the 10 ASEAN countries (SOM) from the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brunei on the 5th to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand on the 16th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 17th.

Deputy Minister Kim shared information on the COVID-19 response status with representatives of each ASEAN country and discussed cooperation measures with ASEAN under the COVID-19 situation and future prospects. ASEAN is an important partner for our country in various fields such as politics and economy, and the government is promoting the deepening and development of Korea-ASEAN relations through the New Southern Policy.

ASEAN is Korea's second largest trading partner after China (based on 2019, $153 billion), and thanks to expanded economic cooperation and the spread of Hallyu, mutual visitors have rapidly increased, surpassing 12 million last year, highlighting ASEAN's growing importance to us.

Deputy Minister Kim and ASEAN representatives exchanged views on the current status and measures related to COVID-19 through a series of video meetings and discussed Korea-ASEAN cooperation measures focusing on the economic and health sectors.

Deputy Minister Kim emphasized the need to ensure the smooth movement of essential personnel such as businesspeople to maintain regional supply chains and an open multilateral order. He also expressed gratitude to ASEAN countries for actively cooperating with the return of our citizens and the exceptional entry of businesspeople despite strict quarantine measures, and discussed the establishment of exceptional business entry measures balancing quarantine and the economy.

In response, ASEAN representatives agreed on the importance of essential personnel exchanges for rapid economic recovery and recalled that discussions on exceptional business entry by each country have been active since the ASEAN+3 Summit in April, agreeing to continue consultations.

Furthermore, Deputy Minister Kim explained that support projects for ASEAN's COVID-19 response using the Korea-ASEAN Cooperation Fund are also progressing rapidly, and the Korean government plans to treat health sector cooperation as a core element of the New Southern Policy in light of COVID-19. He also stated that Korea will actively participate in the “ASEAN COVID-19 Response Fund”* for financing ASEAN countries' COVID-19 response.

ASEAN representatives highly evaluated the Korean government's efforts in responding to COVID-19 and expressed gratitude for our support in overcoming COVID-19, including the provision of diagnostic kits, medical supplies, and quarantine materials. They also said it was impressive that the Korean government shared COVID-19 response experiences and know-how with the international community through webinars and video conferences and requested continued sharing of quarantine experiences and policies.

The meeting participants agreed that the follow-up measures to the recent ASEAN+3 special video summit, which was a valuable opportunity to confirm regional cooperation possibilities against the global threat of COVID-19, should also be faithfully implemented.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister Kim and ASEAN representatives exchanged views on follow-up measures related to major bilateral issues discussed at last year's special summit and bilateral summit meetings and shared the need to promote diplomatic normalization, including the resumption of high-level personnel exchanges.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.