The Moon Jae-in administration’s ‘New Southern Policy’ got off the ground this year, generating significant results.

President Moon embarked on a three-nation tour of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos in September, completing his tour of the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN). In November, Seoul advanced its cooperative ties with the regional bloc by hosting the 2019 ASEAN-South Korea Commemorative Summit and the Mekong-South Korea Summit in the southeastern port city of Busan.

President Moon declared his ‘New Southern Policy’ while attending a business forum in Indonesia on November 9, 2017, vowing to raise Seoul’s partnerships with the ASEAN to the level of its relations with major regional powers, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia. The basic spirit of the policy is ‘3Ps,’ seeking a community centered on People, Peace and Prosperity.

Leaders at the ASEAN-South Korea Commemorative Summit adopted a joint press statement containing the blueprint for the future of a people-centered community of prosperity and peace. They also adopted a joint statement detailing such vision called the ‘ASEAN-South Korea Joint Vision Statement for Peace, Prosperity and Partnership and the Co-Chair’s Statement of the 2019 ASEAN-South Korea Commemorative Summit.’

Moreover, the Mekong-South Korea Summit attended by leaders of five countries sharing the Mekong River, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, was held, where a declaration carrying the blueprint for deepening the two sides’ partnerships was adopted.

Photo : KBS News

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