Foreword

Summary

The year 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea (ROK) Dialogue Partnership. As such, Korea hopes to use this occasion as an opportunity to further strengthen and expand its relationship with many Southeast Asian countries. In March of this year, ASEAN and ROK established the ASEAN-Korea Centre, aimed at promoting economic and sociocultural cooperation between ASEAN and Korea. In June 2009, the parties welcomed the opening of the ASEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit held for the first time in Korea.

The celebratory events merely reiterate and reinforce the importance that South Korea attaches to its relationship with ASEAN. In trade, ASEAN is Korea's third largest partner with a total volume of $90 billion (2008). It is also Korea's third largest investment destination with a total accumulated FDI amount of $29 billion (1968–2008). It is Korea's second largest construction market in the world with a cumulative order of $54 billion (1966–2008). Southeast Asia is also an important source of import commodities such as oil, gas, coal, palm oil, tin, and pulp for South Korea. ASEAN and Korea concluded an FTA (AKFTA) related to goods in June 2007 and shortly thereafter concluded an FTA on service provisions in November 2007.

Cultural and personnel exchanges between Korea and the countries of Southeast Asia have expanded rapidly in recent years. The number of Korean visitors to ASEAN countries has increased more than three-fold in twelve years from 1.1 million in 1995 to 3.5 million in 2007. Nearly half a million ASEAN visitors travelled to Korea in 2007.

In the context of a series of agreements such as the ASEAN Integrated Initiative (2000), Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Cooperation Partnership (2004) and Korea-ASEAN Action Plan (2005), the two sides agreed on cooperation in building IT infrastructure, human resource development, environment, energy, eradication of contagious diseases, and cultural exchange.

But it is in the area of East Asian cooperation where the interests of ASEAN and Korea have coincided closely and the two parties have worked together most productively. Through the efforts of such bodies as the East Asian Vision Group (EAVG) and East Asian Study Group (EASG), Korea and ASEAN countries worked together to plan and build an East Asian community. This cooperation resulted in creating and/or re-invigorating such mechanisms as the East Asian Summit, ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and ASEAN+3 (APT).