1. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Sei-young attended a reception of the 12^th Annual Council Meeting of the ASEAN-Korea Centre held on February 20.

o Director-General for ASEAN and Southeast Asian Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Koo Hong-seok attended the 12^th Annual Council Meeting, held from February 20 to 21, as the Council Director of the Republic of Korea. At its 12^th Meeting, the Council evaluated the Centre’s activities in 2019, and reviewed and approved the Centre’s programs and budget for 2020.

2. In his congratulatory remarks, Vice Minister Cho hoped that the ROK-ASEAN relations would advance and deepen further, with the ASEAN-Korea Centre, the ROK’s only international organization exclusively in charge of ASEAN affairs, playing a leading role.

o Vice Minister Cho noted with appreciation that last year, which marked the 30^th anniversary of the ROK-ASEAN dialogue partnership and the 10^th anniversary of the ASEAN-Korea Centre, the Centre contributed to the success of the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit through various events. He also asked the Centre to exert special efforts to continue to facilitate trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges between the ROK and ASEAN this year.

3. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to actively support the Centre’s activities so that the Centre can play a central role as a channel for strengthening cooperative relations between the ROK and ASEAN.