1. The Republic of Korea-Mekong Senior Officials’ Meeting (head of the ROK delegation: Park Jae-kyung, head of the task force on the New Southern Policy) took place in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, from May 24 to 25 to discuss ways the ROK and the five countries along the Mekong River can cooperate. The Mekong countries, which have continued rapid economic growth, recording annual growth rates of 5-8 percent, are key regions to reduce the development gap in ASEAN, as well as areas with great potential for growth, and major cooperation partners in pursuing the New Southern Policy.

※ Participants from the five countries along the Mekong River include Director-General of the International Organizations and Economic Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar (co-chair) Kyaw Moe Tun, and deputy director-general-level officials from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

2. The ROK side explained the New Southern Policy, aimed at significantly expanding relations with ASEAN, focusing on three pillars of “people, prosperity and peace,” and said that the ROK will continue to contribute to narrowing the development gap and enhancing connectivity in ASEAN by further strengthening cooperation, including upgrading cooperation between the ROK and Mekong countries.

o The Mekong side welcomed the ROK’s willingness to step up cooperation through the New Southern Policy, and especially the Cambodian representative said that Prime Minister Hun Sen, who recently attended the opening ceremony of the ROK-Cambodia Friendship Pediatric Hospital, expressed hope that the level of the ROK-Mekong cooperation mechanism will be elevated to the summit level.

3. The two sides said that the ROK-Mekong cooperation, which has raised the level of institutionalization for the past eight years following the Han River Declaration in 2011, has grown to be an exemplary case of regional mini- and multi-lateral cooperation. They also noted that the 2nd ROK-Mekong Action Plan (2017-2020), adopted at the ROK-Mekong Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Busan last year, and the project on the ROK-Mekong cooperation fund are being implemented smoothly.

※ The Han River Declaration is a framework document on the ROK-Mekong cooperation, adopted at the first ROK-Mekong Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in 2011. It sets out six priority areas of cooperation, including infrastructure, ICT, water resource development, and rural development, as well as ways to promote comprehensive cooperation between the ROK and Mekong countries.

4. Furthermore, the ROK side said that the 6th ROK-Mekong business forum will take place in the ROK in the second half of the year, and took note that the forum is serving as a platform for mutually-beneficial cooperation between SMEs of the two sides. The two sides expected the forum to continue to contribute to expanding cooperation between companies through online and offline business matching.

5. The two sides will hold the 8th ROK-Mekong Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Singapore in August, and discuss the ROK-Mekong cooperation and the way forward, as well as regional situations, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

* unofficial translation