1. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will attend ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ meetings in Manila, the Philippines, from August 6 to 8.

o Minister Kang will participate in four ASEAN-related meetings: the Foreign Ministers’ Meetings of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), East Asia Summit (EAS), and ASEAN+3 (the Republic of Korea, Japan and China); and the ROK-ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

* Schedule of the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ meetings
- August 6 10:15-11:15 ROK-ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
- August 7 10:00-11:30 ASEAN+3 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
12:30-14:30 EAS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
14:45-18:30 ARF Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
- August 8 09:30-12:20 ceremony to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ASEAN

* In previous years, the ROK-Mekong Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, attended by the ROK and five Mekong countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand), took place on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ meetings, but this year, the ROK-Mekong Foreign Ministers’ Meeting will be held separately in Busan, the ROK, on September 1.

2. Minister Kang’s participation in the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ meetings is expected to serve as an important opportunity to expand the ROK’s diplomatic horizons and diversify its diplomacy by elevating the ROK’s strategic partnership with ASEAN, which marks its 50th anniversary this year, to a higher level. At the upcoming meetings, Minister Kang will express the ROK’s willingness to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN and other participating countries in order to increase substantive cooperation in a range of areas, including political, security, economic, social and cultural affairs.

3. At the meetings, the ROK government will stress that amid the ever-growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, including its recent ballistic missile launch, the international community should send North Korea unified and firm messages of no tolerance for a nuclear North Korea, induce North Korea to denuclearize, including by fully implementing the relevant Security Council resolutions, and continue to work together to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.

4. At the ARF Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, attended by delegates from 27 countries, including the US, Japan, China, Russia, North Korea, Canada, Australia, and the EU, in addition to ASEAN, participants will exchange views on regional and global situations, including the North Korean nuclear issue, the situation on the Korean Peninsula, the South China Sea issue, and response to terrorism and violent extremism. They will also review the ARF’s trust-building measures and preventive diplomacy, and discuss the way forward for the ARF.

o Minister Kang will express the ROK government’s commitment to play a leading role in stepping up cooperation in disaster management in the region and response to WMD proliferation as co-chair of the inter-sessional meetings on disaster relief, and non-proliferation and disarmament, two of the four main areas of cooperation for the ARF’s trust-building and preventive diplomacy.

5. At the EAS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the premier strategic forum attended by all major countries in the region, participants will discuss ways to resolve traditional and non-traditional security threats faced by the international community, including the North Korean nuclear issue, as well as the way forward for the EAS, including expanding the scope of cooperation.

o To follow up on the ROK-led statement on countering violent extremism (CVE) issued in 2015, Minister Kang will explain that the ROK government supports a “youth conference on peace and tolerance” this year, and urge the EAS to make joint efforts to respond to the increasing terrorism threats in the region.

6. The ASEAN+3 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which has developed into the most institutionalized cooperation mechanism since being created to jointly respond to the Asian financial crisis in 1997, will bring together ten ASEAN countries, and the ROK, Japan and China. Delegates from the countries will discuss functional cooperation to establish an East Asian community. Minister Kang will emphasize that the ROK will play a leading role in efforts to develop the ASEAN+3 cooperation mechanism, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, into a “community realizing visions,” going beyond a “cooperation mechanism responding to crises.”

o At the meeting, participants will review the progress in cooperation over the past 20 years in political, security, economic, social and cultural affairs, and adopt the ASEAN+3 Cooperation Work Plan (2018-2022), which sets the basic direction of cooperation within the ASEAN+3 mechanism over the next five years, as well as a declaration to celebrate the 20th anniversary of ASEAN+3.

7. At the ROK-ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, attended by the ROK and ten ASEAN countries, Minister Kang will stress that the ROK government is placing great importance on strengthening relations with ASEAN, as demonstrated by the government’s dispatch of an envoy to ASEAN immediately after its inauguration for the first time, and discuss ways to elevate the “strategic partnership” with ASEAN to a higher level.

o Minister Kang will express hope that the ROK and ASEAN will pursue sustainable co-prosperity, and build a peaceful and safe East Asia together. She will exchange in-depth views with the foreign ministers of ASEAN countries on the way forward for such relations.

o Minister Kang will also explore ways for the ROK and ASEAN to become true friends and partners through “people-centered diplomacy,” building upon the momentum of cooperation between the two sides, including the ROK-ASEAN Cultural Exchange Year and the opening of an ASEAN cultural center (scheduled for September 1) this year.

8. On the sidelines of the ASEAN-related meetings, Minister Kang will also hold bilateral meetings with her counterparts from major countries.


* unofficial translation