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South Korean President Moon Jae-in makes introductory remarks for the 21st South Korea-ASEAN summit held via teleconference on Nov. 12. (Yonhap News)

South Korean president Moon Jae-in announced his “New Southern Policy Plus Strategy” while attending a South Korea-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit by teleconference on Nov. 12.

“If ASEAN and South Korea cooperate, we can respond preemptively to the COVID-19 crisis and the resulting social and economic changes,” he declared.

In introductory remarks for the 21st South Korea-ASEAN summit held via teleconference that afternoon, Moon said, “This is a very meaningful year that marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of a ‘strategic partnership’ between ASEAN and South Korea.”

“South Korea sees the New Southern Policy and its results as being helpful to ASEAN and South Korea alike and has devised a ‘New Southern Policy Plus Strategy,’” he announced.

Describing the New Southern Policy as having helped both ASEAN and South Korea over the past three years, Moon shared seven key areas for cooperation as part of a New Southern Policy Plus Strategy reflecting environmental changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting demands among ASEAN members. These included comprehensive post-COVID healthcare cooperation; sharing South Korea’s education model and supporting human resource development; promoting bidirectional cultural exchange using the Korean Wave; establishing a reciprocal and sustainable trade investment base; supporting a mutually beneficial farming and fishing community and urban infrastructure development; cooperating on future industry areas for shared prosperity; and cooperating on non-traditional security areas.

Moon’s schedule also includes a South Korea-Mekong summit on Nov. 13 and an ASEAN+3 (South Korea, China, and Japan) summit and East Asia Summit on Nov. 14. On Nov. 15, he plans to sign the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which is to be the world’s largest-scale free trade agreement (FTA).

By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter

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