1. Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam attended the 13th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on November 20 and 21, where he delivered remarks on tasks ASEM should undertake in order to achieve peace and sustainable development goals, as well as the future direction of ASEM cooperation.

° ASEM is the only regional cooperative mechanism between Asia and Europe. It is comprised of 53 partners -- 51 member states, including the Republic of Korea, China, Japan, Russia, the ten member states of ASEAN, the 28 member states of the EU, Australia, and India, Kazakhstan and many other Eurasian countries; the EU’s European External Action Service (EEAS); and the ASEAN Secretariat. The ROK has been taking an active part in ASEM activities since its establishment in 1996.

2. In Plenary Session I on “Synergizing Peace and Sustainable Development,” Vice Minister Lim delivered remarks along with Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini of the EU. In his remarks, the Vice Minister spoke of the ROK’s experiences in and lessons from achieving peace and economic development from the ashes of the Korean War, and proposed stepping up ASEM cooperation.

3. In Plenary Session II on “3rd Decade of ASEM: Making ASEM Partnership more Dynamic and Connected,” Vice Minister Lim shared with the other participants the ROK government’s new northern and southern policies and other visions for a closer cooperation with Eurasian countries, suggesting that ASEM, a platform bridging Asia and Europe, spearhead cooperation to achieve an inclusive and balanced development in the region.

° On that note, he brought attention to the ASEM Economic Ministers’ Meeting hosted by the ROK government in September 2017 after 12 years of suspension, where the “Seoul Initiative” had been adopted, calling for active responses to such issues as the increasingly unbalanced distribution of wealth and deepening imbalance in digital technology in the region in the era of the fourth industrial revolution.

° He added that the ROK government was hosting the sixth ASEM Education Ministers’ Meeting on November 21 and 22, leading ASEM discussions. He suggested that the ASEM partners work more closely together in developing human resources and building innovative capacity of small- and medium-sized enterprises.

4. In the Retreat Session on the second and last day of the ASEM event, the senior officials comprehensively exchanged views on such sensitive international security issues as the North Korean nuclear program, the situation in Ukraine and Rohingya refugees; as well as other major global and regional issues, including climate change, disaster management, counter-terrorism response and refugees. A discussion on ways that ASEM can respond to those issues ensued.

° Vice Minister Lim attached significance to the 13th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting as an opportunity for the participating countries to reaffirm their shared position calling for a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue. He went on to stress that in response to the North’s provocations, the international community should enforce tough sanctions and place pressure on the North; and send to the North the message that if and when it changes its calculus and selects the path toward denuclearization, the international community will help it have a rosy future, thereby inducing the North to denuclearization talks.

° In particular, the Vice Minister voiced hope that the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will serve as a milestone toward a stronger peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia. In that light, he took note of the fact that in the Chair’s Statement, the ASEM Foreign Ministers articulated their shared view that “the upcoming Pyeongchang winter Olympic Games, with the widest possible participation, could serve as a useful occasion to promote peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and beyond.”

5. In the Chair’s Statement of the 13th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the ASEM partners, with one voice, condemned in strong terms the North Korean provocations; called on the North to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner; stressed the importance of working to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula; took note of the ROK government’s initiative to improve its relations with the North and establish a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula; and reaffirmed the goal to achieve a lasting peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through peaceful, diplomatic and political means.

6. The 13th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is seen to have served as an opportunity for the ROK government to share with the other ASEM partners its vision regarding the future direction of ASEM cooperation and for those partners to affirm their support for the ROK government’s efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue and make the PyeongChang Winter Olympics “Olympics of peace.”


* unofficial translation