1. The 13th East Asia Forum (EAF) will take place at the Haevichi Hotel in Jeju on May 20-21, with some 70 representatives from the governments, business circles and academia of ten ASEAN countries, the ROK, China and Japan in attendance. The Forum, which will begin with an opening address by Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Kim Hong-kyun of the Foreign Ministry, will be held under the theme “Prosperous East Asia through Non-traditional Security Cooperation” and in conjunction with the Jeju Forum 2015.

- In his keynote speech on May 20, Deputy Minister Kim Hong-kyun will reaffirm a vision for the East Asian Community that covers Northeast and Southeast Asia, and stress that joint regional responses to non-traditional security threats, including terrorism and climate change, are essential for continued growth and stability in East Asia. Expecting that the launch of the ASEAN Economic Community later this year will provide momentum to efforts to build the East Asian Community, Deputy Minister Kim will highlight the importance of establishing regional peace and stability by building trust and accumulating practices of cooperation in East Asia.

- The Deputy Minister’s address will be followed by keynote speeches by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Brunei Erywan Yusof, Chinese Ambassador Sun Guoxiang (former Consul-General to New York), ASEAN-Malaysia National Secretariat Director-General Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaakob, and Japanese Ambassador to ASEAN Koichi Aiboshi.

2. The upcoming Forum will feature three sessions to be held successively and attended by representatives from the industrial circles, governments and academia of ASEAN countries, the ROK, China and Japan. The participants will engage in in-depth discussions at the three sessions under the themes “Trust Building in East Asia through Soft Security Cooperation,” “Enhancing Security in East Asia through Terrorism Response,” and “Fostering Growth in East Asia through Climate Change Response.”

- The ROK delegation, to be led by Ambassador for International Security Affairs Choi Sung-joo, will include Director-General for Policy Planning Shin Beom-chul and Head of KPMG's Climate Change & Sustainability Practice for Asia Pacific Kim Sung-woo.

3. The East Asia Forum, the only consultative mechanism among industry, government and academia in the region, is a forum for discussion, where experts from ASEAN countries, the ROK, China and Japan exchange their views on a range of topics with the goal of building the East Asian Community. The ROK government proposed the creation of the EAF in 2001, and has played the leading role in operating the Forum, including by holding its founding ceremony in 2003. The ROK government will provide active support to the activities of the Forum so that it can continue to contribute to the process of creating the East Asian Community.


*unofficial translation