1. On March 30, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choi Jong Kun met with Sim Ann (Senior Minister of State) and Stanley Loh (Second Permanent Secretary) of the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, respectively, to exchange views on ways to enhance cooperation between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Singapore as well as on regional and international affairs.

2. The two sides noted that, despite the constraints caused by COVID-19, both countries were able to maintain not only high-level exchanges (including the visits to Singapore by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Defense of Korea) but also reciprocal people-to-people visits through the agreements on Mutual Recognition of Vaccination Certificates and Vaccinated Travel Lanes. 

3. Vice Minister Choi commented that Singapore has been a key partner nation for Korea’s New Northern Policy, as well as its primary investment* and infrastructure construction** destination among ASEAN member countries, and expressed hope to expand the field of cooperation to future industries such as the digital arena.

* As of 2020, Korea’s investment to Singapore amounted to $5.6 billion (the largest among ASEAN countries) and Singapore’s investment to Korea reached $2.3 billion (the second largest among countries investing in Korea).

** Singapore is the No.1 construction market excluding the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait) with the number of orders secured by Korean companies so far reaching 398, which amounts to $46.2 billion.

4. In particular, the two sides looked forward to seeing a substantial increase in bilateral cooperation for promoting digital trade of goods and services and novel digital technologies through the Korea-Singapore Digital Partnership Agreement*, which was concluded last December, and agreed to complete the domestic procedures for the official signing of the agreement within this year. They also decided to work closely to conclude the negotiations on Korea's accession to the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement**. 

- The agreement entails clauses about easing regulations on digital businesses and e-transactions, strengthening domestic law for the protection of personal information and online consumers, increasing cooperation and exchange of information on new digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and fintech etc.

** The Digital Economy Partnership Agreement is a plurilateral digital cooperation agreement concluded in January 2021, and Singapore is currently the chair of the Accession Working Group for DEPA.

5. The two sides also shared their views on strengthening collaboration between Korea and Singapore in the international arena as supporters of multilateralism and agreed to work together for the successful implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and for Korea’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership*. 

* Singapore is the chair of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership for 2022.

6. Both sides also exchanged in-depth views on recent regional and international developments, such as the situation on the Korean peninsula as well as in Myanmar and Ukraine, and agreed to step up involvement on such issues as key middle power states of Northeast and Southeast Asia. 

ㅇ In particular, they expressed concern for the upheaval of democracy in Myanmar following the state of emergency declared on February 1, 2021 and the deteriorating humanitarian situation. The two sides agreed to contribute to reaching an ASEAN-led peaceful solution based on the progress made in implementing the five-point consensus on Myanmar*. Vice Minister Choi explained that Korea's humanitarian assistance amounted to $5.1 million last year and emphasized that Korea would continue to participate in the international community's efforts to restore democracy for the Myanmar people. 

* ① immediate cessation of violence ② constructive dialogue among all parties ③ appointment of an ASEAN special envoy ④ provision of humanitarian assistance ⑤ visit by the envoy to Myanmar

ㅇ They also reaffirmed the stance of their countries in strongly condemning Russia's armed invasion of Ukraine, and, given that the international sanctions against Russia in which both states are participating* may cause disturbances in procuring supply of key materials for allies and partners, decided to discuss ways to minimize collateral damage.

* Singapore announced financial sanctions against Russia, which involve export control for electronic devices, computers, and items that may be used as weapons, and a ban on financial transactions with certain Russian banks on March 5.

7. Lastly, Vice Minister Choi introduced the efforts made by the Korean government to widen the scope of the New Northern Policy by strengthening its connection with the Indo-Pacific strategies of key players (the US, Australia, the EU, etc.) based on the progress made in the past five years. He suggested that Korea and Singapore should actively seek opportunities for further bilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interest and where ASEAN demand lies, such as public health, connectivity, the digital field, and climate change. 

ㅇ The Singaporean side positively assessed the New Southern Policy and its past achievements and hoped that the next Korean administration would maintain its ASEAN-centered policy stance.