ROK-ASEAN Relations  

ASEAN and the Republic of Korea first established sectoral dialogue relations in November 1989. The ROK was accorded full Dialogue Partner status by ASEAN at the 24th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in July 1991 in Kuala Lumpur. The year 2004 marked the 15th anniversary of the ROK-ASEAN dialogue relations. In order to mark the event and to chart the future of the relations in the 21st century, the ROK and the ASEAN concluded a Joint Declaration at the ROK-ASEAN Summit on November 30, 2004 in Vientiane. The Joint Declaration provided a blueprint for moving forward the ROK-ASEAN relations in a more comprehensive and substantive manner. 

1. Political and Security Cooperation ROK-ASEAN cooperation in the political sector has been strengthened by regular dialogue and exchange of views on regional and international issues through existing mechanisms such as summits, ministerial meetings, the ROK-ASEAN Dialogue, ASEAN+3 Cooperation, Post Ministerial Conference(PMC)+10 and the ASEAN Regional Forum(ARF). In combating terrorism and transnational crimes, the ASEAN has cooperated with the ROK through the ASEAN+3 process, namely ASEAN+3 Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime(AMMTC+3) and the Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime+3(SOMTC+3) consultations, and under the ARF framework. ASEAN continues to support the peace process in the Korean Peninsula. The Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea(DPRK) is a participant in the ARF since 2000. 
The ROK has also acceded to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation(TAC) in Southeast Asia in November, 2004 on the occasion to mark the 15th anniversary of Dialogue Relations between the ROK and the ASEAN. 

2. Economic Cooperation Korea and the ASEAN are important trading partners to one another. ASEAN accounts for around 10% of Korea total export and import. The ROK-ASEAN bilateral trade grew from US$38.7 billion in 2003 to US$718.6 billion in 2007.

 In order to enhance the ROK-ASEAN economic cooperation, the leaders of the ROK and ASEAN expressed commitment to develop a comprehensive partnership at the ROK-ASEAN Summit on October 8, 2003 in Bali, Indonesia. They tasked their ministers to discuss the possibility of establishing a Free Trade Area. Subsequently, an ROK-ASEAN Experts Group(AKEG) was established to draw up the Joint Study Report on the feasibility of an ROK-ASEAN FTA. The Joint Study has been completed and its recommendations were considered by the ROK-ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, pursuant to the endorsement given by the economic ministers of the ROK and the ASEAN to the recommendations. 

The ROK-ASEAN FTA on Trade in Goods was signed in August 2006 and entered into force on June 2007. Under the agreement, the tariff rates on 90.8% of all products will be reduced gradually to zero by 2010, and the rates on 5.4% of items will be reduced to a range from zero to 5% by 2016.  The ROK-ASEAN FTA on Trade in Services was signed in November 2007 and is expected to enter into force in 2009.  

Korean Investment in ASEAN has increased from US$710 million in 2004 to US$3.71 billion in 2007. And Korea's reception of construction orders in ASEAN amounted to only US$700 million in 2004. But in 2006, it was US$2.76 billion, and reached US$8.95 billion in 2007.

In order to enhance the ROK-ASEAN economic cooperation, the leaders of the ROK and ASEAN expressed commitment to develop a comprehensive partnership at the ROK-ASEAN Summit on October 8, 2003 in Bali, Indonesia. They tasked their ministers to discuss the possibility of establishing a Free Trade Area. Subsequently, an ROK-ASEAN Experts Group(AKEG) was established to draw up the Joint Study Report on the feasibility of an ROK-ASEAN FTA. The Joint Study has been completed and its recommendations were considered by the ROK-ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, pursuant to the endorsement given by the economic ministers of the ROK and the ASEAN to the recommendations. One of the key recommendations is to realize the ROK-ASEAN FTA by 2009 between the ROK and the ASEAN-6 countries with consideration for special and differential treatment for the developing countries of ASEAN and additional flexibility for the newer ASEAN member countries, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Viet Nam(CLMV). These countries would be given an additional five years to realize the FTA. 

3. Functional Cooperation At the 4th ASEAN Informal Summit held in 2000 in Singapore, the ROK and the ASEAN identified areas of information technology, human resource development, cultural exchanges, medical assistance and Mekong Basin development cooperation, as priority areas for cooperation. Since then, the ROK-ASEAN development cooperation has been expanded to cover the areas of trade, investment, science and technology, tourism, and environment. Cooperation in the areas of human resource development, people-to-people exchange and bridging the development gaps has been given due attention. 

A number of ROK-ASEAN development cooperation projects have been implemented and supported by the ROK-ASEAN Special Cooperation Fund(SCF) and Future Oriented Cooperation Project(FOCP) Fund. From 1990 to 2007 the ROK US$36 million contributed.

People-to-people contact continues to be an area of importance in the ROK-ASEAN cooperation. Exchange programs are held for cultural experts, government officials, media personnel, academic and youth funded by the FOCP.

The ROK is also providing support for ASEAN's efforts to narrow the development gap among ASEAN member countries. It has pledged US$5 million and has taken up five projects between 2003 and 2008 in the areas of information and communication technology, capacity building in trade in goods and services, e-government and undertaking feasibility study for the missing links and spur links of the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link Projects in the CLMV countries.

4. At the 11th ASEAN-ROK Summit in November, 2007, a Memorandom of Understanding on the Establishment of ASEAN-Korea Centre was signed and after the due completion of domestic procedure from each country, it entered into force on 3rd December 2008. As an international organization, the Centre is expected to play a substantail role in expanding track and investment, and in facilitating cultral and people-to-people exchange between ASEAN and Korea. The Centre is located on the 8th floor of Press Center in central Seoul.

ASEAN+3 

The ASEAN Plus Three cooperation began in December 1997 with the convening of an informal Summit among the Leaders of ASEAN and their counterparts from East Asia, namely China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) at the sidelines of the Second ASEAN Informal Summit in Malaysia. 

The ASEAN Plus Three process was institutionalised in 1999 when the Leaders issued a Joint Statement on East Asia Cooperation at their 3rd ASEAN Plus Three Summit in Manila. The ASEAN Plus Three Leaders expressed greater resolve and confidence in further strengthening and deepening East Asia cooperation at various levels and in various areas, particularly in economic and social, political, and other fields.  

Since then, a number of key documents have been adopted to set the direction for ASEAN Plus Three cooperation. These include the Report of the East Asia Vision Group (EAVG) of 2001 and the Report of the East Asia Study Group (EASG) of 2002. The Final Report of the EASG was adopted by the ASEAN Leaders at the ASEAN Plus Summit in 2002 in Cambodia. The Report contains 17 short-term measures, and 9 medium and long-term measures.  

Cooperation among the ASEAN and Plus Three countries are progressing well. ASEAN and Plus Three Countries hold regular dialogue and consultations at the summit, ministerial, senior officials and working groups/expert levels to strengthen and deepen cooperation. 

Currently, there are 55 mechanisms under the ASEAN Plus Three process, coordinating 20 areas of ASEAN Plus Three cooperation, which include economic, monetary and finance, political and security, tourism, agriculture, environment, energy, and ICT.

URL : http://www.aseansec.org/