I.          Background

1.         ASEAN and the Republic of Korea (ROK) first established sectoral dialogue relations in November 1989. The ROK was accorded full Dialogue Partner status by ASEAN at the 24^th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in July 1991 in Kuala Lumpur. 

2.         The year 2004 marks the 15^th Anniversary of the ASEAN-ROK dialogue relations. In order to mark the event and to chart the future of the relations in the 21^st Century, ASEAN and the ROK will be concluding a Joint Declaration at the forthcoming ASEAN-ROK Summit on 30 November 2004 in Vientiane.  The Joint Declaration will provide a blueprint for moving forward ASEAN-ROK relations in a more comprehensive and substantive manner.  

II.         Political and Security Cooperation

3.         ASEAN-ROK cooperation in the political field has been strengthened by regular dialogue and exchange of views on regional and international issues through existing mechanisms such as Summit, ministerial meeting, ASEAN-ROK Dialogue, ASEAN Plus Three cooperation, Post Ministerial Conference (PMC)+10  and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).

4.         In combating terrorism and transnational crimes, the ASEAN has cooperated with the ROK through the ASEAN Plus Three process, namely ASEAN Plus Three Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC+3) and Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime Plus Three (SOMTC+3) consultations, and under the ARF framework. ASEAN continues to support the peace process in the Korean Peninsular. The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea is a participation in the ARF since 2000. 

5.         The ROK has expressed its intention to accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia on the occasion to mark the 15^th anniversary of Dialogue Relations between ASEAN and the ROK.  

III.        Economic Cooperation

6.         ASEAN and Korea are important trading partners to one another. In 2003, ASEAN exported to Korea US$17.1 billion or 4% of ASEAN total exports to the world and imported from Korea US$15.1 billion or 4.2% of ASEAN total imports from the world. The ASEAN-Korea bilateral trade grew by 2.2% from US$31.5 billion in 2002 to US$32.2 billion in 2003. 

7.         Korean investment in ASEAN has generally accounted about 3% of the total foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into ASEAN over the period of 1995-2003. However, Korea’s cumulative investments in ASEAN amount to US$ 11 billion, which accounts for 15.2% of Korea’s total FDI outflow, making ASEAN the third largest investment destination for Korean firms.

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

Functional Cooperation

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

10.        A number of ASEAN-ROK development cooperation projects have been implemented and supported by the ASEAN-ROK Special Cooperation Fund (SCF) and Future Oriented Cooperation Project (FOCP) Fund. From 2000 to 2004, 51 projects were implemented, 11 projects were ongoing, and 21 projects were pending implementation. From 1990 to 2003 the ROK had contributed about USD 17.7 million and USD 7 million to the SCF and FOCP, respectively.

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

12.        The ROK is also providing support for ASEAN’s efforts to narrow the development gap. It has pledged US$5 million and has taken up five IAI projects in the areas of ICT, 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 CLMV Countries.

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