Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is seeking cooperation from Southeast Asian countries over Seoul’s “New Southern Policy” and its peace-building efforts on the Korean Peninsula. 

Kang made the request during a meeting this week with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) in Vietnam. 

According to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry, Kang presented the visions of the Moon Jae-in administration’s policies to deepen the ties with Southeast and South Asian countries. She also called on ASEAN to play a constructive role in the process of building peace on the Korean Peninsula, including the upcoming inter-Korean summit. 

During a separate forum meeting, Kang stressed that Korean Peninsula-related issues have made significant progress through the two previous inter-Korean summits this year and the North Korea-U.S. summit. 

She said continuous progress on denuclearization and peace-building on the peninsula is the South Korean government’s top priority, expressing hope the Pyongyang summit will create further momentum.