08 December 2014 —President Benigno S. Aquino III and other leaders of ASEAN Member States (AMS) will gather in Busan to mark the ASEAN-Republic of Korea (ROK) 25th Anniversary Commemorative Summit on December 11 and 12.
President Aquino and other nine AMS leaders will deliver their respective country statements building on the theme “Building Trust, Bringing Happiness,” reflecting ROK’s commitment to strengthen its relationship with ASEAN through trust, which should result in happiness for the citizens of ASEAN and the ROK.
Two Commemorative Summit Sessions on December 12 at the Busan Exhibition Convention Centre (BEXCO) will cover the review of the ASEAN-ROK cooperation and its future direction, and the cooperation on non-traditional security issues with emphasis on climate change and disaster risk management
On December 11, President Aquino will also have a bilateral meeting with ROK President Park Geun-hye, who will host a Welcome Dinner and Cultural Performance to officially welcome ASEAN Leaders.
Aside from the Commemorative Summit Sessions on December 12, sideline events where President Aquino is set to attend include an exhibition on Korean traditional arts and crafts, a special exhibition on public governance, and a meet-and-greet with the CEO of Korea Aerospace Industries and ROK officials.
President Park will likewise host the Leaders’ Luncheon on the second day.
Before his departure, President Aquino will meet the Philippine media in a one-hour coffee meeting at the Paradise Hotel Busan.
During the Summit, President Aquino will be joined by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario and other Members of the Cabinet, ASEAN-Philippines Director-General Luis T. Cruz and other officials from executive departments.
Reflecting on how ASEAN-ROK dialogue partnership matured in 25 years, ROK has engaged ASEAN in various areas of cooperation of mutual interest, including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), labor and migration, trade and investment, development cooperation and people-to-people exchange.
In 2013, about five million Koreans visited ASEAN, one million of whom went to the Philippines.
After being a sectoral dialogue partner in 1989, ROK became a full dialogue partner in 1991. In 2010, the ASEAN-ROK dialogue relations were upgraded to a strategic partnership. END