Mr. Chairman,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a pleasure and honour for me to participate for the first time in the Post Ministerial Conference of ASEAN. Korea's new diplomacy attaches great importance to its relationship with ASEAN. During its twenty-six years of existence, ASEAN has made itself indispensable for the security and prosperity not only of Southeast Asia but of the entire Asia-Pacific region as well.

ASEAN was created in 1967. In 1979, ASEAN launched its Post Ministerial Conference. Another dozen years later, ASEAN significantly upgraded the PMC mechanism by introducing a security agenda. ASEAN has also set the goal of realizing a Free Trade Area by early next century. Korea hopes that this goal will be successfuly achieved. This means that ASEAN will be making a significant leap in regional cooperation about every decade.

Since last year's PMC in Manila, the trends of openness and reconciliation continue to spread. Many countries around the globe have been continuing their reforms towards democracy and market economy. The trends towards paying greater attention to problems of democracy were reinforced by such events as the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna last month.

At the same time, we are witnessing new developments. On the political and security front, the tragic situation in Bosnia has aggravated; the situation in Somalia is deteriorating; North Korea's nuclear question is yet to be resolved; the peace process in Cambodia has made significant progress. On the economic front, the Uruguay Round is still undergoing in spite of seven-year negotiations; the Single European Market (SEM) was launched this year; the expanded NAFTA will come into effect next year.

Amidst these developments, a new world order of the post-Cold War era is relentlessly taking shape. In recognition of this change, the Korean government has adopted regional cooperation as one of the most important themes of its international relations.

The new international environment on the eve of what we might call the Pacific Era embodies several characteristics, the most important of which is growing interdependence among nations. This interdependence is a completely new phenomenon enabling us to actively construct a new world order rather than merely adapt to it.

The world and especially the countries of the Pacific will have to make the most of this rare opportunity for the creation of a new world order. Lest such an opportunity should slip away through our fingers, we have to orient our national and regional strategies to the emerging new order. In this context, the most important task before us seems to be the promotion of multilateral security and economic frameworks in the Asia-Pacific region.

Over the long run, just as European nations enhanced their security, economic prosperity and democracy through the process of political and economic integration, Pacific countries could also secure peace and prosperity through multilateral processes such as the ASEAN-PMC.

In this regard, the meeting that we had yesterday evening With the Foreign Ministers of China, Russia, Vietnam, Laos and Papua New Guinea bears particular significance. Korea welcomes and commands ASEAN's initiative to invite them and hopes that such widening of the process will continue.

Despite the passing of the global Cold War, indeed perhaps because of it, the regional security situation his become even more fluid and complex. Until now, bilateral arrangements have played an important role in the security of the Asia-Pacific region. Although such a network will continue to be essential for a considerable period of time, the changing security environment raises the need for multilateral dialogue and cooperation to complement bilateral arrangements.

A multilateral security dialogue encompassing the entire Asia-Pacific region has already begun at the ASEAN-PMC. At the same time, the possibility of multilateral security cooperation in such sub-regions as Northeast and Southeast Asia is under careful but active consideration.

What the ASEAN-PMC process illustrates is the willingness of the participating countries to engage in a multilateral security dialogue. Last year, Korea joined the rest of the Dialogue Partners in commending ASEAN for initiating the multilateral security dialogue within the PMC framework. This May, ASEAN took another concrete step by convening the PMC Senior Officials Meeting here in Singapore. Moreover, ASEAN has drawn its guests and observers closer to PMC. Korea welcomes continuing initiatives of ASEAN in promoting multilateral security dialogue and will actively participate in the process.

For its part, given the specific security equation, the Northeast Asian region could also consider a long-term vision of devising a mechanism of security cooperation, which will promote, among others, confidence-building, arms control and dispute settlement.

The Southeast Asian countries have already been successful with their multilateral security cooperation. The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation which was signed in 1975 among ASEAN countries is gaining wider adherence within the region. The developments regarding Cambodia and South China Sea are also very encouraging.

Korea welcomes the election held in Cambodia last May and the on-going process of establishing a new government. The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) played a vital role in successfully supervising the overall peace process of Cambodia. The United Nations, thus, has proved itself to be an integral part of the emerging new international order. Cambodia's integration to the regional political and economic order, along with its progress in domestic stability, would contribute to the peace and prosperity of the region. This will mark the culmination of ASEAN's valuable contribution to the Cambodian question.

The "Declaration on the South China Sea" adopted at last year's ASEAN Ministerial Meeting is an excellent example of preventive diplomacy. Korea hopes that Indonesia's mediating role and the cooperation of other countries concerned will bring about further success for the benefit of the entire East Asian region.

Now, let me bring your attention to the most alarming issue in the post-Cold War security environment, namely, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Although the signing process of the Chemical Weapons Convention is certainly a positive and encouraging development, it still has a long way to go to be an effective mechanism to control the spread of chemical weapons. More significantly, the sector of nuclear proliferation along with delivery vehicles is looming large over us.

In particular, we cannot help but raise the North Korean nuclear question. This problem is posing a serious threat not only to the Korean people but also to the region and the world as a whole. Mindful of this fact, Korea has been taking every possible measure to resolve this critical issue in a peaceful manner. We have done so in close cooperation with other countries and relevant international institutions such as the IAEA and the United Nations Security Council.

So far, we have been successful only to the point of having made Pyongyang remain in the NPT regime and agree to enter into negotiation with IAEA to implement full safeguard requirements. North Korea must meet its nuclear safeguard requirements and cooperate in removing suspicions surrounding its nuclear programme.

The ultimate solution to this issue can come only with North Korea's joining in the international trends of reconciliation and cooperation. This is precisely why we have to induce North Korea to participate in the regional and international order. Seen from this perspective, a successful international effort to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue is essential in building an enduring regional order.

The end of the Cold War has compelled nations to shift their focus from security to economy. At the same time, this shift of focus has raised concerns over the deepening economic competition among countries and regions.

Today's world economic environment is characterized by parallel progress in both globalism and regionalism. The success or failure of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations will have a decisive impact on world economy. With the Pacific Era on the horizon, the future direction of the economic order in the Asia-Pacific region will depend heavily on the outcome of these negotiations. The cornerstone of GATT, namely, non-discrimination can be kept alive only by globalism. And the cornerstone of the Pacific Era, namely, interdependence can best be enhanced by open regionalism.

As we look into the nature of the Pacific economy, we are struck by the enormity of the size as well as by the strong intra-regional interdependence. The economies of the Asia-Pacific region assume approximately 50% of the world's GNP and 40% of global trade. Moreover, whereas intra-regional trade was only 57% in 1980, it grew to 69% ten years later.

Among the various forms of intra-regional interdependence, that between the two shores of the Pacific, namely, East Asia and North America, is the most significant. Trans-Pacific trade surpassed trans- Atlantic trade some ten years ago. And by the century's end, the ratio is expected to become two to one.

As the only intergovernmental organization encompassing the entire Asia-Pacific region, APEC is the very mechanism that will contribute decisively to the promotion and productive management of the trans-Pacific interdependence. ASEAN has been playing a crucial role from the inception of APEC; last year's chair country was Thailand and Indonesia will assume chairmanship next year. In the meantime, Singapore successfully established an APEC Secretariat this year.

In our view, it is about time for APEC to consider holding a meeting of its leaders. Such a meeting will keep the momentum of APEC spirit going. We hope that the leaders' meeting of the APEC members will be realized in the forthcoming Seattle Conference in November.

Interdependence among nations has made us pay close attention to global issues such as eradication of poverty, protection of environment, and efficient utilization of natural resources.

It was only at the recent Rio Summit that the world was fully awakened to these important international issues. In particular, the preservation of the global environment is emerging as a life-and- death issue for the whole of mankind. The profound impact the issue may potentially exert on trade and industry is raising the possibility of convening a Green Round. In dealing with the environmental problems, it is important to seek a balance between the North and the South as the former focusses on the primacy of environmental protection while the latter emphasizes the development imperative.

Finally, I would like to put in a word on behalf of cultural understanding. Ultimately, security and economy cannot be satisfactorily explained without proper reference to culture. The understanding of culture is fundamental to all aspects of relations among nations. In the Pacific era, Eastern and Western cultures are constantly interacting. For the peace and prosperity of the region, it is essential to regard the two cultures in harmonious terms rather than in a conflictual context.


Mr. Chairman,

From the moment we arrived at Changi airport, we have constantly been impressed by the hospitality and warm welcome by the Singaporean government. Such considerate gestures will certainly help make this Post Ministerial Conference a great success.

Thank you.