외교부

Chairman’s Statement of the 12th ASEAN-ROK Summit
Cha-am Hua Hin, Thailand, 24 October 2009


1. The 12th ASEAN-Republic of Korea (ROK) Summit chaired by H.E. Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, was held on 24 October 2009 in Cha-am Hua Hin, Thailand. The Heads of
State/Government of ASEAN Member States had a productive meeting with H.E. Mr. Lee Myung-bak, President of the Republic of Korea.

2. The ASEAN Leaders welcomed the successful convening of the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit on 1 – 2 June 2009 in Jeju Island, ROK. The ASEAN Leaders viewed the Commemorative Summit as a testimony to robust and vibrant relations between ASEAN and the ROK that have been steadily developed over the past 20 years and believed that the ROK’s “New Asia Initiative” will further contribute to the strengthening of these relations in the future.

3. The ASEAN Leaders welcomed the three initiatives by the ROK announced at the Commemorative Summit to cooperate with ASEAN on Development Cooperation, Low-Carbon Green Growth, and Cultural
and People-to-People Exchanges. To effectively implement the Joint Statement of the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit and the three initiatives announced by the ROK, we tasked our officials to make
revisions to the Plan of Action to implement the Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Cooperation Partnership to reflect the latest developments from the Commemorative Summit.

4. We welcomed the completion of the ASEAN-ROK Free Trade Agreement after the signing of the ASEAN-ROK Investment Agreement on 2 June 2009 and noted with satisfaction that the total trade between ASEAN and the ROK had reached around US$ 90 billion in 2008. We also looked forward to realising our target set forth at the Commemorative Summit to increase our bilateral trade to US$150 billion by 2015.

5. In view of the fact that the private sector is a key driving force in enhancing our economic ties, we supported more exchanges between ASEAN and the ROK’s business communities. We welcomed the convening of the ASEAN-ROK CEO Summit on 31 May – 1 June 2009 in Jeju Island which had opened a new chapter of cooperation for our private sectors to play a significant role in boosting our economic prosperity. In this regard, we encouraged relevant officials to build on the success of the ASEAN-ROK CEO Summit in promoting a channel for the private sector to contribute to enhancing ASEAN-ROK cooperation.

6. We welcomed the launch of the ASEAN-Korea Centre in Seoul on 13 March 2009. We attached great importance to the Centre as it will serve as a key channel to further enhance trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges between ASEAN and the ROK.

7. We noted with satisfaction the ASEAN-ROK Eminent Persons Group (AKEPG)’s report which reviews our 20 year-long cooperation and maps out ways and means to further strengthen ASEAN-ROK relations.
We expressed our appreciation to the AKEPG for their hard work in providing us with fresh ideas on how to enhance our cooperation that will contribute to the future of ASEAN-ROK relations.

8. We were concerned with the global economic and financial crisis and its impact on the global economy. We were committed to strengthen financial cooperation under regional and global frameworks to address
this crisis. We reiterated our commitment to promote trade and investment, and reject protectionism. The ASEAN Leaders appreciated the ROK’s pledge to play a bridging role between emerging and advanced economies. The ASEAN Leaders expressed their hope that the ROK as the incoming Chair of G20 would consider inviting the ASEAN Chair to attend the G20 Summit in the ROK in 2010.

9. We were aware of the global challenges facing our region and affecting our peoples’ livelihood, namely climate change, food and energy security, and natural disasters, and realised that closer cooperation to tackle these challenges is crucial. In this connection, the ASEAN Leaders welcomed the ROK’s “Low-Carbon Green Growth” initiative for dealing with climate change and maintaining sustainable development, and welcomed the ROK’s commitment in allocating US$100 million from its initiative on “East Asia Climate Partnership” to support ASEAN Member States so that they can better respond to climate change. We agreed to explore and develop concrete projects under the initiative for the greater benefit of the region.

10. The ASEAN Leaders reiterated their appreciation for the ROK's proposal on the establishment of Asian Forest Cooperation Organisation (AFoCO) at the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit. We noted the progress on the draft document on establishing the AFoCO. We encouraged our officials to work towards the finalisation of the draft document.

11. The ASEAN Leaders appreciated the ROK’s commitment made at the Commemorative Summit to share with ASEAN its development experiences, especially in the field of science and technology as well as ICT. We wish to see more proposals in these fields, particularly the possibility of creating a network of education through ICT and the collaboration on information usage in the rural area to narrow the digital divide in ASEAN. As ASEAN is developing an ASEAN Master Plan on Connectivity and an infrastructure development fund for ASEAN, ROK was encouraged to support these efforts, noting that cooperation in these areas will truly be beneficial to the realisation of an integrated ASEAN Community by 2015.

12. In this regard, we also urged our relevant Ministers and officials to expedite the conclusion of the ASEAN-ROK MoU on Transport Cooperation by the end of 2009 in order to expand ASEAN-ROK cooperation to all modes of transportation.

13. We attached great importance to our cultural linkages which serve as a foundation for our long-standing relations. To this end, we supported the ROK’s initiatives on youth exchange programmes which help foster friendship and understanding among our succeeding generations. We expressed our anticipation that more cooperative projects will be carried out with the increase of the ASEAN-ROK Cooperation Fund from 2010.

14. We noted the importance of future generations in promoting ASEAN-ROK relations. Thus, the ASEAN Leaders welcomed the enhanced cooperation between ASEAN and the ROK in the area of education under the ROK’s Global Korea Scholarship programme. We also agreed to continue to explore the possibility of establishing an ASEAN-ROK cyber university and tasked our education officials to explore this proposal.

15. We recognised that enhanced peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, through dialogue and cooperation, is essential for the peace, security and stability of the region. To this end, we are committed to continue our efforts to achieve an early resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue in a peaceful manner through the Six-Party Talks process. We reaffirmed our commitment to implement the provision of the relevant UNSC resolutions and urged the DPRK to fully comply with them.

16. The ASEAN Leaders expressed their appreciation for the ROK’s continued support to ASEAN’s community building efforts guided by the Cha-am Hua Hin Declaration on the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community. The ASEAN Leaders welcomed the ROK’s commitment to contribute the second tranche of US$ 5 million to the Initaitve for ASEAN Integration (IAI) from 2008 – 2012 and the third tranche of US$ 5 million from 2013 – 2017, to double Official Development Assistance (ODA) to ASEAN by 2015, and to share its experiences in economic and social development by dispatching volunteers under its World Friends Korea initiative.

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