1. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha attended the 25th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Singapore on August 4, during which she exchanged with other participants views on regional and global issues, including those concerning the Korean Peninsula.

° The event brought together the top diplomats of the ten member states of ASEAN; Secretary of State Pompeo of the US; Foreign Ministers Wang Yi, Kono, Bishop, Freeland and Ri Yong-ho of China, Japan, Australia, Canada, and North Korea, respectively; Deputy Foreign Minister Morgulov of Russia; and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Mogherini of the EU, among others.

※ The ARF is comprised of 27 member states -- the ten ASEAN countries, the Republic of Korea, the US, Japan, China, Russia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, the EU, Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, North Korea, Pakistan, East Timor, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

° A number of participants, covering the situation on the Korean Peninsula as the most important agenda item, also discussed in depth key security challenges in the region, including the South China Sea issue, terrorism, violent extremism, and cyber security.

2. Minister Kang noted that the two rounds of inter-Korean summit talks and the US-North Korea summit meeting had put in full gear the journey toward a complete denuclearization and a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula; stated that the ROK would work to faithfully implement the measures agreed upon at the inter-Korean and US-North Korea summit talks and to move forward the inter-Korean relations and the denuclearization in a virtuous circle; and asked that the ARF member states render strong support and cooperation along the way.

° In response, the majority of participants noted with appreciation that the inter-Korean and US-North Korea summit talks had led to recent, positive progress in the situation on the Korean Peninsula; and expressed commitment to strong cooperation on and support for efforts to achieve the shared goals of a complete denuclearization and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula.

3. With respect to the South China Sea issue, ministers of ASEAN countries and China took note of the progress in the currently ongoing China-ASEAN consultations on the South China Sea Code of Conduct (COC). Meanwhile, ministers of such countries as the US and Japan urged countries concerned to exercise restraint in order to guarantee the freedom of navigation in and flight over the South China Sea and to resolve the dispute in a peaceful way.

4. Minister Kang relayed the commitment of the ROK government as a co-chair of the Inter-Sessional Meetings on disaster relief and on non-proliferation and disarmament -- two of the ARF’s areas of cooperation for confidence-building and preventive diplomacy activities -- to take the lead in contributing to the efforts to step up cooperation among ARF member states on disaster management and on the response to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in the region.

※ The ROK is serving as a co-chair of the Inter-Sessional Meeting on Disaster Relief in 2017-2018 and the Inter-Sessional Meeting on Non-Proliferation and Disarmament in 2018-2020.

° With regard to the first ARF Inter-Sessional Meeting on ICTs Security held in April 2018, Minister Kang hailed it, adding that the ROK would take an active part in the ARF’s efforts to beef up ICTs security.

° The Minister also expressed the ROK’s willingness to co-chair, together with Thailand, the ASEAN chair for the year 2019, the ARF Inter-Sessional Support Group Meeting on Confidence Building Measures and Preventive Diplomacy (ARF ISG on CBMs and PD).

° At their 2018 meeting, the foreign ministers of the ARF member states adopted “a statement for closer cooperation on disaster management,” in which they stated their decision to work more closely together to reduce and respond to disaster threats in the region.

5. The ARF was established in 1994 to enhance mutual trust and understanding through dialogue on major political and security issues in the region and thereby to promote peace and stability. It is the largest consultative mechanism on security in the Asia-Pacific region that seeks substantive cooperation on confidence-building and preventive diplomacy in a range of areas, including disaster relief, disarmament and non-proliferation, maritime security, counter-terrorism and transnational crimes, and ICT security.

 
* unofficial translation