1. Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Lee Jeong-kyu will attend in his capacity as the Republic of Korea’s head delegate the Senior Officials’ Meetings (SOMs) of the ASEAN Plus Three (APT), the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM), which will take place in the Philippines, the ASEAN chair, on May 23 and 24.

2. At the APT SOM on May 23, the officials will take note of the fact that the members of the 20-year-old APT have steadily stepped up cooperation in such fields as finance, economy and food security, and will review the progress in the follow-up on the report by East Asia Vision Group (EAVG) II, which was led by the ROK government.

※ The member states of the 1997-launched APT -- the ten ASEAN countries, the ROK, China and Japan -- are working together in 20-odd sectors, including finance, economy, information and communications technology, education and healthcare.

※ EAVG II, the second group of eminent persons launched in 2011 to replace the 1999-formed EAVG I, put forward at the APT summit in 2012 a vision to “found an East Asian economic community by 2020.”

3. The EAS is seen to have evolved since its founding in 2005 into the best strategic forum in the region, where the leaders of the 18 member countries seek ways to jointly address traditional and non-traditional security issues. Its SOM on May 23 will cover the progress in the follow-up on the eleventh EAS summit in 2016 as well as current regional and global issues, including those concerning North Korea’s nuclear program and the South China Sea.

※ The EAS, founded in 2005, is comprised of the ten ASEAN countries, the ROK, China, Japan, the US, Russia, Australia, New Zealand and India.

- The members of the EAS, a forum for strategic consultations among leaders of major countries in the region on political and security affairs, among others, also engage in functional cooperation mainly in energy, finance, education, healthcare, disaster management and ASEAN connectivity.

4. At the ARF SOM on May 24, the officials will exchange views on key regional and global issues, including those concerning North Korea’s nuclear program, the South China Sea, responses to terrorism and extremism, and cyber security. They will also comprehensively discuss cooperation activities in the fields of disaster relief, counterterrorism, international crimes, maritime security, and disarmament and non-proliferation.

※ The ARF was launched 1994 and is composed 27 member countries, including the ten ASEAN countries, the ROK, the US, China, Japan, and North Korea.

- The ARF is focused on trust-building mainly in the areas of disaster relief, counterterrorism, international crimes, disarmament and non-proliferation, and maritime security, as well as on preventive diplomacy.

5. At the SOMs, which will come ahead of this year’s ASEAN-related foreign ministerial and summit meetings in August and November, respectively, the officials will discuss the agenda to be covered at the upcoming meetings and other preparations for them.


* unofficial translation