1. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choi Jong Kun had a meeting with the ASEAN Committee in Seoul (ACS) on the afternoon of January 21 to evaluate the progress made in cooperation between the ROK and ASEAN under the New Southern Policy during the last five years and to discuss directions for future cooperation.

＊ ASEAN Committee in Seoul (ACS) : Group of Ambassadors of the 10 ASEAN Member States in Seoul

- Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

2. Noting the growing economic interdependence between ASEAN and the ROK, Vice Minister Choi and ASEAN Ambassadors shared the view that the ROK and ASEAN need to strengthen cooperation to maintain stable supply chains in the region and safeguard economic security in the face of rapidly changing international economic circumstances, as Korea’s recent experience of urea shortage indicates. 

3. Vice Minister Choi evaluated that the New Southern Policy has been firmly consolidated as the fundamental framework for ROK-ASEAN cooperation and emphasized that the Korean government will carry out the New Southern Policy in a consistent manner based on the support and cooperation of ASEAN countries and thereby continue to develop relationship with ASEAN.

＊ ASEAN-related funds and Official Development Assistance (ODA)

- ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund (AKCF) : (2019) 7 million USD → 14 million USD / (2022) 16 million USD

- Mekong-Korea Cooperation Fund (MKCF) : (2018) 1.12 million USD → (2019) 2 million USD → (2020) 3 million USD → (2021) 4 million USD → (2022) 5 million USD

- BIMP-EAGA-ROK Cooperation Fund (BKCF) : (2021) 1 million USD(newly launched) → (2022) 3 million USD

- ROK’s Grant Aid to ASEAN Countries: compared to 2017, approximately doubled in 2022 (147 billion KRW → 313 billion KRW (provisional))

° ASEAN Ambassadors expressed gratitude to the Korean government for putting importance on ASEAN through the New Southern Policy and hoped that the New Southern Policy would continue to be maintained and further developed as Korea's major foreign policy. 

4. Vice Minister Choi expressed deep concern over the deteriorating situation in Myanmar and hoped that Myanmar could restore democracy in a prompt manner. He also mentioned that the Korean government would be willing to play necessary roles in resolving the situation in Myanmar and continue providing humanitarian assistance for the people of Myanmar.

5. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to communicate and cooperate with Ambassadors from ASEAN Member States to implement the New Southern Policy, which is a key foreign policy of the Korean government, in a more substantive and efficient manner.