1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held the 2019 ASEAN-Republic of Korea (ROK) Think Tank Strategic Dialogue under the theme “New Southern Policy and the Future of Korea-ASEAN Relations” at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA) on October 25, bringing together experts from leading foreign affairs and security think tanks of the ten ASEAN member countries.

° The Dialogue was attended by about 100 people, including KNDA Chancellor Kim Joon-hyung, Ambassador for Public Diplomacy of the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs Chang Jae-bok, Chairman of the ROK-ASEAN Parliamentary Diplomatic Forum Lee Seok-hyun, Secretary-General of the ASEAN-Korea Centre Lee Hyuk, representatives of leading foreign affairs and security think tanks of the ten ASEAN member countries, ASEAN experts from home and abroad, members of the diplomatic corps to the ROK, journalists, and students from ASEAN countries in the ROK.

° The participating ASEAN experts exchanged in-depth views on the significance and priorities of the 2019 ASEAN-Republic of KOREA Commemorative Summit and the future of the ASEAN-ROK relations as well as ways for the ROK and ASEAN to work together for peace and prosperity and to step up people-to-people exchanges and public diplomacy.

2. In particular, at this international academic conference, the experts from the ROK and the ASEAN countries adopted and issued a document in the form of “Chair’s Statement” that contains their policy suggestions on ways to successfully hold the 2019 ASEAN-Republic of KOREA Commemorative Summit in November and to strengthen ASEAN-ROK cooperation.

° In addition, the KNDA and think tanks of the ten ASEAN member countries recognized the need to develop a mechanism of policy communication between the ROK and ASEAN and agreed to hold the ASEAN-ROK Think Tank Strategic Dialogue on an annual basis.

3. The first ASEAN-ROK Think Tank Strategic Dialogue put forth specific policy suggestions for continued advancement of the bilateral strategic partnership in a mutually beneficial way over the next 30 years and laid the institutional foundation for a policy communication channel between the two regions. As such, it is seen to have contributed to enhancing ASEAN’s understanding of and support for the ROK government’s New Southern Policy, the aim of which is to build a “people-centered community of peace and prosperity.”