1. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha attended an ASEAN Plus Three (APT) foreign ministerial meeting in Manila, the Philippines, on August 7, during which the top diplomats reviewed the progress in the cooperation among the member states of the APT, which marks in 2017 the 20th anniversary of its founding, and exchanged views on its way forward.

※ The APT is a regional consultative mechanism among the ten member states of ASEAN, the Republic of Korea, Japan and China established in 1997 to jointly seek a solution to the Asian financial crisis in the same year. It mainly pursues functional cooperation among its member countries.

2. Minister Kang, taking note of the steady progress in the APT cooperation over the past 20 years in various fields, including finance, food security, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges, suggested that the APT member states work together to upgrade the organization from “a cooperative body for crisis responses” to “a future-oriented community to fulfill visions in.”

° The Minister stressed that the countries in Northeast and Southeast Asia, with a shared vision of their regions as one East Asian community, should work together. She went on to emphasize that the ROK government, which had led cooperation in East Asia, including through activities in the East Asia Vision Groups (EAVGs) I and II, plans to continue playing an active role in such efforts.

※ The EAVG is a group of former and incumbent officials and scholars of the APT member states brought together to conduct mid- to long-term studies on cooperation in East Asia.

- The EAVGs I and II were formed in 1999 and 2011, respectively, at the proposal of the then ROK Presidents.

° In addition, Minister Kang voiced hope that the APT will act as a bridge between ASEAN and the ROK, Japan and China in terms of cooperation and thereby will help maintain cooperation in a mutually beneficial manner and establish sustainable peace in the region.

3. The participating foreign ministers noted with appreciation that the APT, which had been launched to jointly overcome the Asian financial crisis in 1997, has become the most institutionalized mechanism for functional cooperation in the region; and reaffirmed their commitment to further step up cooperation in diverse areas, including healthcare, poverty eradication, terrorism and cyber security.

° The top diplomats reaffirmed the importance of cooperation in East Asia for sustainable peace and prosperity amid the growing tide of trade protectionism and anti-globalization moves. In addition, they welcomed the adoption of the APT Cooperation Work Plan 2018-2022, where a direction is laid out for the APT cooperation over next five years.

※ The APT Cooperation Work Plan is a document in which a direction is laid out for the APT cooperation in the fields of political affairs and security; economy and finance; culture and social affairs; environment; and connectivity. With the first of its kind drawn up in 2007, the work plan is adopted every five years and implemented over the next five years.

° Minister Kang shared with her counterparts the ROK government’s efforts to increase the APT cooperation, including providing rice through the APT Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) system, opening an ASEAN Culture House in the country, and hosting a forum on vocational training and development. She went on to express the ROK’s commitment to boost cooperation in a way that can contribute to the promotion of global values and the quality of people’s lives.

4. All of the participating ministers shared the view that co-prosperity in East Asia cannot be achieved without peace and stability in the region. On that note, Minister Kang, labeling the recent series of nuclear and missile provocations by North Korea as a direct threat to peace and stability in East Asia as well as a grave challenge to international norms, highlighted the need for ASEAN, and the ROK, Japan and China to work together to achieve the shared goal of a denuclearized North Korea through peaceful approaches.

° In response to Minister Kang’s remarks, the foreign ministers from the other APT member states voiced deep concern over the Korean Peninsula, where the situation has become more grave in the wake of the series of North Korean provocations. In particular, the majority of the ASEAN countries in the APT reaffirmed the ASEAN member states’ shared position manifested in the joint statement issued at the ASEAN foreign ministerial meeting, in which the ASEAN countries had urged the North to comply with the relevant Security Council resolutions; had expressed support for the ROK government’s position calling for peace on the Korean Peninsula and an improved inter-Korean relations; and had made clear that ASEAN will work closely with the ROK government toward the denuclearization of North Korea.

5. At their meeting in November, the leaders of the APT member states will review the progress in the APT cooperation over the past 20 years and adopt a “Manila declaration in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the APT founding,” in which the APT’s way forward will be laid out.


* unofficial translation