PH Participates in the 24th ASEAN-Republic of Korea Dialogue
Philippine Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) Leader Elizabeth P. Buensuceso joins Republic of Korea (ROK) Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Gunn and Brunei SOM Leader Emaleen Abdul Rahman Teo, along with SOM Leaders of other ASEAN Member States in the 24th ASEAN-ROK Dialogue. At the end of the Meeting, the SOM Leaders expressed appreciation to COVID-19 frontline workers through the symbolic “Thank you frontliners” gesture, the Korean way.
PASAY CITY 28 August 2020 – The 24th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – Republic of Korea (ROK) Dialogue was held via video conference on 26 August 2020. ASEAN and ROK Senior Officials discussed current regional concerns, the future of ASEAN-ROK cooperation and the many ways both sides can cooperate collectively in the region’s road to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In her intervention, Philippine Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) Leader Elizabeth P. Buensuceso supported new and more creative ways of sustaining solidarity across diverse cultural backgrounds and geographic borders, in the midst of the devastations wrought by COVID 19. She underscored how the pandemic has highlighted the importance and centrality of socio-cultural issues like pandemic response, disaster management, biodiversity and climate change, culture and the arts, and people-to-people exchanges in uniting ASEAN during these uncertain times.
The Philippines noted the strength of people-to-people exchanges between ASEAN and ROK and also encouraged greater cooperation between the two in cultural and youth exchanges, tourism, and education. Ambassador Buensuceso noted that despite COVID-19, “Hallyu” and Korean dramas like “sarangui boolshichak” (Crash Landing on You), continue to do well in the region but other aspects of our exchanges, including digital education, human resource development such as through technical and vocational education training, cultural and academic exchanges, and tourism should continue to be enhanced, once the situation permits it.
While the ROK has always been a generous partner in education initiatives related to ASEAN and Korean studies, including languages, the Philippines noted the need to expand ASEAN-ROK educational exchanges for the study and promotion of the rule of law and the law of the sea, in cooperation with ROK’s specialized institutions on maritime affairs. In reiterating further cooperation on pandemic-proof human capital development through the ASEAN-ROK Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Mobility Program, Ambassador Buensuceso invited Korea to participate in the work of the newly launched ASEAN TVET Council, of which the Philippines is the inaugural Chair from 2020 to 2022. END