ASEAN, SOUTH KOREA ADVANCE PARTNERSHIP WITH NEW FIVE-YEAR FRAMEWORK

By Mohd Iswandi Kasan Anuar

JAKARTA, March 26 (Bernama) -- ASEAN and South Korea are set to deepen their partnership with a new Plan of Action (POA) aimed at advancing their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) over the next five years (2026-2030).

The successor plan is currently under development and is expected to be finalised for adoption by foreign ministers from both sides in July 2025, according to the ASEAN Secretariat.

The commitment to strengthening the CSP was reaffirmed by officials during the 12th Meeting of the ASEAN-South Korea Joint Cooperation Committee, held at the ASEAN Headquarters on Tuesday.

Discussions focused on further enhancing cooperation, with an emphasis on areas such as trade and investment through the implementation of the ASEAN-South Korea Free Trade Agreement; digitalisation; connectivity; cybersecurity; clean energy; sustainable development; education; disaster management; environment and climate change; smart cities; and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

Officials also noted significant progress in various areas of cooperation under the POA 2021-2025, including political and security relations, trade and investment, digital transformation, tourism, energy, environment, education, health, culture, youth, and disaster management.

Both sides agreed to continue strengthening practical cooperation in the four priority areas of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), in line with the Joint Statement on AOIP cooperation adopted at the 24th ASEAN-ROK Summit last year, the secretariat added.

-- BERNAMA