1. Chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha, the 2^nd Plenary Meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the 2019 ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (ROK) on Tuesday, September 17, from 16:00 to 18:00, in order to review the progress in preparations for the 2019 ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit and the 1^st Mekong-ROK Summit to be held in Busan on November 25-27, 2019.

○ In the meeting, the Committee, led by the Foreign Minister and composed of vice ministerial- and deputy ministerial-level officials of 35 relevant government agencies and organizations, discussed the progress in preparations for major programs, deliverables and special events of the two upcoming Summits, and agreed to continue cooperation among the government agencies.

○ In particular, this meeting brought together officials of a number of central government agencies including the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and ICT; public organizations such as Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA); and the Busan Metropolitan City government.

2. Minister Kang mentioned in her opening remarks that the Commemorative Summit will serve as an opportunity to lay a foundation for sustainable cooperation through which the ROK government’s New Southern Policy can be upgraded to a higher level. Minister Kang added that the officials need to focus on drawing outcomes that could provide substantial benefits to the people of the ROK and the ten ASEAN countries, and make thorough and fit preparations for each ASEAN countries.

○ Minister Kang went on to ask the relevant government agencies and organizations to maintain close mutual cooperation system for the success of the two forthcoming Summits, and underscored the importance of communication and promotion that could lead to the strong interest and participation of the people of the ROK and ASEAN countries.

3. The officials of relevant government agencies including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Justice who attended the meeting shared the progress in preparations for deliverables in various fields such as “Improving the Visa System”; “Expansion of FTA Network with ASEAN”; “Expansion of Scholarship Programs for ASEAN Students”; “ASEAN-ROK Air Service Cooperation”; “Establishment of Finance Cooperation Center (FCC)”; and “ASEAN-ROK Smart City Cooperation.” The officials added that they are creating deliverables that could substantially help the two sides.

4. The 2019 ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit Preparatory Office (Executive Director: H.E. Amb. Suh Jeong-in) explained that opening events such as an ASEAN-ROK Train: Advancing Together (organized by the ASEAN-Korea Centre); the 2019 ASEAN-ROK Food Street (organized by the Busan Metropolitan City); and an ASEAN Pop Music Concert (organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) as well as special events such as an ASEAN-ROK Startup Summit (organized by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups); an ASEAN-ROK Innovation Showcase 2019 (organized by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy); and an ASEAN-ROK Culture Innovation Summit (organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) are being arranged.

○ Executive Director Suh explained that special events will take place five times more than before (from six in 2014 to 30 in 2019), and particularly added that a range of events are being arranged in which the Summits-attending leaders as well as the people of the ROK and ASEAN countries can participate.

5. During the meeting, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on New Southern Policy (Advisor to the President for Economic Affairs at the Blue House) Joo Hyung-chul held a special session in which this year’s 57 key projects of the New Southern Policy were reviewed and the participants of the meeting agreed to mainly review the progress in the implementation of deliverable projects of the upcoming Summits.

6. In the Commemorative Summit to be held in celebration of the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of the ASEAN-ROK Dialogue Partnership with ASEAN countries, the ROK government will take note of bilateral cooperative relations built over the last three decades, and discuss concrete cooperation plans in various fields in a bid to continue to further strengthen cooperative partnership for the next three decades.

○ The Mekong-ROK Summit, scheduled to take place back to back with ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit, will serve as an opportunity to concretize the “Mekong-ROK Vision,” which was announced by President Moon Jae-in during his visit to Southeast Asian countries in September this year, and to discuss specific ways to work together to achieve shared prosperity between the ROK and Mekong countries.

7. The 2^nd Plenary Meeting, attended by 35 government agencies and organizations, is seen to have generated synergistic effects by reviewing the preparations for and implementation of the Commemorative Summit and the inaugural Mekong-ROK Summit as well as key projects of the New Southern Policy.

○ The ROK government will continue cooperation among the relevant government agencies and organizations for the successful holding of the forthcoming Summits scheduled to be held in the coming two months.