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ASEAN-
Korea relations
Sectoral
dialogue relations between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea
were formalised on November 2, 1989 following an exchange
of letters between the Indonesian Foreign Minister Alia
Alatas, who then chaired
the 23rd ASEAN Standing Committee, and Korean Foreign
Minister Caoi Ho-joong. An inter-governmental consultative
body, the ASEAN-ROK Joint Sectoral Cooperation Committee,
was established to facilitate sectoral relations in the
areas of trade, investment and tourism. The committee met
on two occasions in Jakarta in 1990 and in Seoul in 1991.
Korea
was elevated to the status of a dialogue partner at the
24th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur in July
1991. Since then, cooperation has expanded to cover
science and technology and human resources development.
Korea has held five dialogue meetings with ASEAN, the most
recent being held in the Philippines in March, 2001.
Institutional
Framework
As
a full dialogue partner, Korea has been participating in
several meetings with ASEAN including the ASEAN Regional
Forum, the ASEAN-ROK Dialogue Meeting, the
Post-Ministerial Conference, and ASEAN+1 Summits. These
meetings offer the opportunity for Korea and ASEAN to
review contemporary political, security, economic and
development cooperation issues affecting both sides.
After
the Fourth ASEAN-ROK Dialogue Meeting, the institutional
framework for cooperation with Korea considerably
expanded, notably with the introduction of the ASEAN-ROK
Joint Planning and Review Committee and ASEAN+3 forums.
Korea now participates in ASEAN+3, ASEAN Finance and
Central Banks Deputies
+ 3 and an ASEAN +3 senior officials meetings to
prepare for summits. Korea also recently participated in
the ASEAN+3 Food, Agriculture and Forestry senior
officials meeting, ASEAN Finance Ministers Meeting+3 and
ASEAN+3 Consultative Meeting on Science and Technology.
Political
Cooperation
Korea
supports ASEAN efforts to establish a Zone of Peace,
Freedom and Neutrality and a nuclear-weapon-free zone in
Southeast Asia. Korea has also supported ASEAN as the
primary driving force of the ASEAN Regional Forum. It has
also demonstrated its interest in strengthening
cooperation with ASEAN on the issue of global disarmament
and to promote mutual interests through close
consultations. The recent inclusions of political and
security matters under the ASEAN-ROK dialogue meetings is
a manifestation of closer cooperation with ASEAN.
Economic
Cooperation
Since
establishing sectoral ties with ASEAN, Korea’s trade
with the region has increased rapidly. From 1988 to 1996,
Korea’s trade with ASEAN increased at an annual rate of
22 percent while its total trade grew by 12 percent. As a
result, ASEAN's share of Korea’s total trade more than
doubled during the period, rising from 5.8 percent in 1988
to 11.5 percent in 1996. Korean exports to ASEAN grew at
an annual rate of 26 percent, reaching some US$20 billion
in 1996, while total exports rose at an annual rate of 10
percent. During this period, ASEAN's share of Korea’s
total exports more than tripled from 5.1 percent in 1988
to 15.5 percent in 1996. On the other hand, Korean imports
from ASEAN increased less rapidly than exports but still
grew at an annual rate of 17 per cent. ASEAN represented
8.0 percent of Korea’s total imports in 1996, slightly
up from 6.6 percent in 1988. Korea is now the fourth
largest trading partner of ASEAN, and ASEAN is the fifth
largest trading partner of Korea. The major exports to
Korea are primary products such as crude materials and
fuels, timber and rubber while the major imports from
Korea are steel, machinery, electronic components,
computers and transport equipment.
Korea’s
direct investment in ASEAN showed a similar trend as trade
increased rapidly in the late 1980s due to the high labour
and rental costs in Korea, the appreciation of the won and
a current account surplus, which provided impetus for
Korean firms to invest abroad. The ASEAN share of
Korea’s total investment was 13.6 percent in 1988,
climbing to 29 percent in 1991. Direct investment in ASEAN
began to decline with the normalisation of Sino-Korean
ties, encouraging a diversion of investments to China due
to geographical proximity and lower wage costs. In 1996,
ASEAN's share in Korea’s outward investment dropped to
11.5 percent.
Development
Cooperation
ASEAN-Korea
development cooperation has expanded over the years. When
Korea established sectoral dialogue relations with ASEAN,
the focus was on economic and commercial cooperation. With
dialogue partnership status in 1991, cooperation expanded
to include science and technology, human resource
development, agriculture, the environment and information
technology.
ASEAN
and Korea have implemented programmes in all the areas of
cooperation identified under the dialogue. These
programmes are supported by two funds known as the
ASEAN-ROK Special Cooperation Fund and the ASEAN-ROK
Future-Oriented Cooperation Program Fund.
Under
the special fund, 47 projects have been successfully
completed in the areas of biotechnology, marine science,
microelectronics, information technology, science and
technology, infrastructure and human resources
development. The future-oriented fund has supported four
projects involving youth, three involving cultural
exchanges and four projects involving media exchanges.
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