President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged to strengthen cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) member states and to enforce regional strategies based on a trilateral cooperation with the U.S. and Japan.

At a summit with the leaders from the ten-member regional bloc in Jakarta, Indonesia on Wednesday, Yoon proposed that the two sides join efforts toward a shared prosperity.

[Sound bite: President Yoon Suk Yeol (Korean/English)]
"Underpinned by the three countries' full support for the ASEAN-led regional architecture, the Republic of Korea, U.S. and Japan have committed to coordinating our Indo-Pacific strategies and exploring new areas of cooperation." 

The president credited the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative, a sub-regional policy under Seoul's Indo-Pacific strategy announced last year, to have helped extend cooperation between the two sides. 

Stating that a new era of cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan has opened following last month's Camp David summit, Yoon said they have agreed to adjust each of their regional strategies and seek new areas for cooperation based on full support for the ASEAN-led regional structure.

[Sound bite: President Yoon Suk Yeol (Korean/English)]
"In this sense, we have initiated the annual South Korea-U.S.-Japan and Indo-Pacific dialogue and launched the South Korea-U.S.-Japan maritime security cooperation framework aiming to support the maritime capability of Southeast Asian and Pacific island nations." 

Yoon also sought ASEAN leaders' support for Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo, pledging to share South Korea's development experience and to offer a platform for participating nations to seek solutions to challenges faced by humanity.