1. Ten resident Ambassadors to ASEAN will visit the Republic of Korea from October 26 through 30 at the invitation of the ROK government. Their visit to the country marks the second of its kind following the first last year. The purpose of the visit is to strengthen the ROK-ASEAN relations and raise the ROK’s awareness of ASEAN, which has lately and increasingly grown in importance.

° Resident Ambassadors to ASEAN refer to those from the ten ASEAN member states stationed at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia. These Ambassadors, who handle external relations, are important strategic partners for the ROK in terms of its diplomacy with ASEAN.

2. The resident Ambassadors to ASEAN are expected to serve as the ROK government’s channel for close communication with ASEAN to achieve tangible progress in the ROK government-led initiatives, including the establishment of the ROK-ASEAN security dialogue and the ROK-ASEAN Business Council, which were proposed by President Park Geun-hye at an ASEAN-related summit held in Brunei on October 9-10. They are also expected to play such a role in the process of preparing for a successful ASEAN-ROK commemorative summit in December 2014.

3. During their visit to the ROK, the Ambassadors will visit the Busan Metropolitan Council and the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (for meetings with local entrepreneurs); attend the dinner to be hosted by the Busan Mayor; hold a roundtable with the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies of Busan University of Foreign Studies; and make a tour of defense companies.

4. The Ambassadors, who visited Seoul and Yeosu for World Expo 2013, will visit Busan, the ROK’s largest trade city, during the upcoming trip to the country. The visit to the city is expected to serve as an opportunity to enhance the friendship between the ROK and ASEAN as strategic partners and raise the public awareness of ASEAN in the ROK.

5. The Ambassadors will pay a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se on their last day in the ROK, October 30, to exchange views on ways to advance the ROK-ASEAN ties and make a success of the ASEAN-ROK commemorative summit to be held in December 2014. 


                           Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation