Ms. Jang paid a courtesy call on Pengiran Dato Mashor Pengiran Ahmad, the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN.  Ms. Jang was presented with a gift by the Deputy Secretary-General on behalf of the ASEAN Secretary-General.  She also received a briefing on ASEAN and ASEAN-ROK dialogue relations, and visited the library, art gallery and gift shop of the ASEAN Secretariat.

After her visit, Ms. Jang commented that “the tour of the ASEAN Secretariat has been interesting and enlightening as it provided me with first-hand knowledge of the working of ASEAN and the degree of friendship of ASEAN towards my country.  It also shows the level of commitment of ASEAN and the ROK to work together as partners for the benefit of their peoples.”   

Ms. Jang is visiting Indonesia from 15-18 December 2004 after successfully concluding her visit to Viet Nam.  As part of her programme, she will meet officials from the Indonesia foreign ministry, her fans, make local television appearance and hold a press conference.

The Korean Stars’ Visit will be carried out in two batches. The first batch of Korean stars will visit Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam.  The second batch of Korean stars will visit Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, the Philippines and Singapore.

The Korean Star’s Visit to ASEAN Countries is the second project of the ROK being implemented to commemorate the 15th Anniversary.  The first project on issuing of commemorative stamp packs featuring symbols of ASEAN countries and the ROK is ongoing.  ASEAN will also be implementing two commemorative projects next year. The purpose of these projects is to promote public awareness of the strong and growing dialogue relationship between ASEAN and the ROK.

The ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta

16 December 2004

Picture (Above):  Jang Nara (3rd from right) with the ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General, Mr. Pengiran Mashor (4th from left) in ASEAN Secretariat, accompanied by officials from the Korean Embassy, Jakarta.