1. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha attended in her capacity as a co-chair the 21^st ASEAN-Republic of Korea Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Singapore on August 3, during which the participants reviewed the progress in ROK-ASEAN cooperation; and exchanged views on strategies for implementing the ROK’s New Southern Policy as well as the situation on the Korean Peninsula and other regional and global issues.

2. Minister Kang explained the New Southern Policy -- mainly its 3P (“people, co-prosperity and peace”) areas of cooperation – that the ROK government has been implementing in earnest; and, calling the Policy one that the ROK and ASEAN should work on together, asked for close cooperation of ASEAN.

° The ministers from ASEAN member states, commending the ROK government’s firm commitment to remarkably step up cooperation with ASEAN, stressed that ASEAN would cooperate closely with the ROK to facilitate a smooth implementation of the Policy.

° (People) The two sides drew a common understanding that the ROK-ASEAN cooperation should move forward in a way that would help to improve people’s lives as well as to facilitate two-way exchanges and thereby a better connection between the peoples of the two sides. On that note, they agreed to work more closely together to boost people-to-people exchanges and to beef up capacity of future generations.

- In particular, the ministers from ASEAN member states praised the ROK government for being ASEAN’s only dialogue partner that hosts and runs both a bilateral center and an ASEAN Culture House in a bid to boost cultural and people-to-people exchanges; and for working to expand the coffers of the ASEAN-ROK Cooperation Fund, the main financial basis for bilateral cooperation.

° (Co-Prosperity) The two sides, both recognizing co-prosperity as an essential factor in building a sustainable ROK-ASEAN partnership, agreed to double efforts to resolve ASEAN’s issues of concern, including enhancing connectivity and narrowing the development gap.

- In addition, with the currently growing tide of trade protectionism posing a massive challenge to the highly-trade-dependent ROK and ASEAN, the two sides agreed to further bolster cooperation to safeguard the free trade regime, including by concluding a regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP) in 2018 and further liberalizing the ASEAN-ROK FTA.

° (Peace) Minister Kang informed the other top diplomats of the recent positive progress in the situation on the Korean Peninsula, extending appreciation to ASEAN member states for paying keen attention to efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue and to build peace on the Korean Peninsula, and for contributing actively in that regard, including by issuing ASEAN foreign ministerial statement over such major events as the inter-Korean and US-North Korean summit talks.

- The ministers from ASEAN member states stressed that ASEAN would continue to contribute actively to a complete denuclearization and a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

3. Minister Kang formally proposed holding an ASEAN-ROK commemorative summit in the ROK in 2019 to mark the 30th anniversary of the bilateral dialogue relations and to review the outcome of the ROK’s New Southern Policy. In response, the ministers from ASEAN member states welcomed the ROK’s suggestion.

° The two sides agreed to finalize the specific timing and venue of the bilateral commemorative summit 2019 at the bilateral summit talks slated for November 2018.

° Minister Kang stated that the ROK would do its utmost in preparing for the commemorative summit in order for the event to serve as an opportunity to not merely celebrate the 30^th anniversary of dialogue relations but also remarkably step up substantive cooperation between the two sides.

* unofficial translation