Mission of the Republic of Korea to ASEAN

ASEAN-ROK Cooperation Fund

The ASEAN-ROK Cooperation Fund, established in 1990, has been operated with an annual budget of USD 7 million(started from 2015) funded from the Korean government, totalling USD 103 Million as of December 2018. The ASEAN-ROK Cooperation Fund conducts a variety of projects and activities in the areas of development cooperation, technology transfer, human resource development, people to people exchanges, and exchanges of intellectuals and culture through agreement between Korea and ASEAN. The ASEAN-ROK Cooperation Fund has been recognized to have substantially bolstered cooperative ties between the two sides as well as furthered development among and within ASEAN countries.

ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Fund

The ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Fund (APTCF) was launched at the 9th ASEAN+3(ASEAN+Republic of Korea, Japan and China) Foreign Ministers Meeting(in 2008) with an initial contribution of US$ 3 million. Korea, Japan, and China each contributes US$ 900,000, and ASEAN contribute US$ 300,000. This would provide the needed resources to implement more projects as envisaged by the Second Joint Statement on East Asia Cooperation and the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Work Plan (2018 – 2022).

Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI)

Launched in 2000, the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) mainly aims to narrow the development gap and accelerate the integration of the newer four members of ASEAN, namely Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Viet Nam with the older six members of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, and Singapore. IAI Work Plan III was adopted in 2016 and Korea and other dialouge partners have explored the ways to implement the action lines listed in the work plan.

Mekong-ROK Cooperation Project

The Korean government has been striving to further strengthen cooperation with the countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) to narrow the development divide among and within ASEAN member countries, thereby helping accelerate the integration of ASEAN and forge an ASEAN Community. The Korean government agreed to provide the Mekong-Korea Cooperation Fund with an annual budget of USD 500,000 as initiated at the second Mekong-ROK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on July 10, 2012. The fund was doubled to USD 1 Million in 2015. The Mekong-Korea Cooperation Fund is expected to conduct multilateral development projects encompassing all of the GMS countries.

ASEAN Connectivity

ASEAN Connectivity is a project that was initiated to accelerate the establishment of the Economic Community, Political-Security Community, and Socio-Cultural Community of ASEAN by 2015. The Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity was adopted by the ASEAN Leaders at the 17th Summit in October 2010. The Master Plan identified two strategies to build an ASEAN Community and physical, institutional and human connectivity projects to link the ASEAN Community from 2011 to 2015. The ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee (ACCC), the body tasked to coordinate and oversee the effective implementation of the Master Plan, convened its inaugural meeting in April 2011. MPAC 2025 (Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025) was adopted in Vientiane, in September 2016. The second phase of the masterplan identifies 5 strategic areas namely sustainable infrastructure, digital innovation, seamless logistics, regulatory excellence, and people mobility.

East Asia Vision Group Ⅱ (EAVG Ⅱ)

In response to the 1997 Asian Financial crisis, the East Asia Vision Group I was established. At that time, countries in East Asia initiated regional cooperation after realizing the need to mutually cooperate in overcoming the economic crisis, and thereby established the identity of East Asia during the process. Over the subsequent years, East Asian nations were able to institutionalize their cooperation in political-security, economic-financial, and socio-cultural realms, and thus begin the process of building an East Asia community. In 2012, the East Asia Vision Group II (EAVG II) reviewed the progress made through all cooperation activities of ASEAN Plus Three (Korea, China, and Japan), explored future directions for their cooperation, and proceeded with the discussion to build an East Asian Community. Based on the deliberations, the EAVG II recommends the realization of an East Asia Economic Community by 2020 as the main pillar of the vision. The four vehicles of the East Asia Economic Community are; a single market and production base; financial stabilization, and food and energy security; fair and sustainable development; and constructive contribution to the global market.