1. Every year, July and August are the months during which the greater part of ASEAN- and Mekong-related diplomatic events takes place. Despite the difficulty in making overseas trips and holding face-to-face meetings in 2020 due to COVID-19, two video conferences were held on July 2 to mark the full-fledged beginning of ASEAN- and Mekong-related diplomatic events.

2. A Friends of the Lower Mekong Senior Officials’ Meeting (FLM SOM) was co-hosted by the United States and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam for discussions on ways for cooperation with the five countries in the Mekong region, during which the participants shared information on cooperation in the Mekong region and exchanged in-depth views on ways to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of cooperation among the FLM.

3. Mr. Park Jae-kyung, Director-General for ASEAN and Southeast Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and head delegate of the government of the Republic of Korea to the FLM SOM, explained that the ROK government has continued to explore ways to achieve shared prosperity with the ASEAN and Mekong countries through its New Southern Policy and has created a new milestone in cooperation with the Mekong region by holding the “1^st Mekong-ROK Summit” in 2019.

° In particular, the Director-General noted that at the 1^st Mekong-ROK Summit, the two sides had agreed to establish a Mekong-ROK Biodiversity Center and a Mekong-ROK Business Council and have been fully conducting the Mekong-ROK Future Peace Community Program with the aim to achieve a long-term peace in the Mekong region.

° The Director-General added that the ROK has been providing the Mekong countries with about 20% of its total official development assistance (ODA) in the form of grants and loans and contributed 14 million to the “ASEAN-ROK Cooperation Fund” and 3 million U.S. dollars to the “Mekong-ROK Cooperation Fund” in 2020.

4. Director-General Park stressed that, in order to enhance the effectiveness of the FLM cooperation, it is important for the countries in the region to share information on cooperation projects in the Mekong region and increase opportunities for private-public consultations. He went on to suggest seeking out new areas of cooperation in order to cope with the changing security environment.

° In this regard, he explained that the ROK government is exploring ways to achieve sustainable development and green growth in the post-COVID-19 era through its environment- and people-centered “Green New Deal.”

5. Despite the time differences and limitations due to its video format, the ASEAN Regional Forum Inter-sessional Support Group Meeting on Confidence Building Measures and Preventive Diplomacy (ARF ISG) brought together delegates from the majority of its 27 member states except for some countries such as North Korea, who reviewed the progress in the ARF activities and exchanged views on its future plans.

° The ROK’s head delegate to the meeting, Deputy Director-General for ASEAN and Southeast Asian Affairs Chung Eui-hae, voiced hope that in-person ARF activities would resume as soon as possible for peace and stability in the region, underscoring the need for robust discussions on ways for cooperation on such new security issues as security of information and communications technology (ICT).

° The participating countries exchanged candid and in-depth views on security issues in the region, including maritime security, terrorism and disaster relief.

6. Starting with the FLM SOM and ARF ISG meeting held on July 2, the ROK government plans to take an active part in ASEAN-related SOMs and Foreign Ministers’ Meetings -- the ASEAN-ROK, Mekong-ROK, ASEAN Plus Three, East Asia Summit and ARF meetings -- over the next month and thereby continue to step up cooperation with the ASEAN countries, the region central to the New Southern Policy.