President Moon Jae-in, who is visiting Singapore to attend ASEAN-related summits, began his official itinerary with a summit with Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, the country coordinator for ASEAN-Korea dialogue relations.
This morning’s summit proceeded as a pull-aside meeting next to the Korea-ASEAN summit conference room. At the meeting, President Moon called for Brunei’s support and cooperation to successfully implement the Korean Government’s New Southern Policy.
The two heads of state agreed to further cooperate in the fields of infrastructure and construction. They also reached an agreement to step up collaboration in the information and communications technology sector.
Noting that Korea and Brunei have maintained very close relations, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah expressed his appreciation to President Moon for the numerous opportunities Korea has provided to Brunei in various areas. The Sultan went on to say that Korean businesses were actively participating in infrastructure projects in Brunei, particularly in bridge construction.
Currently, construction of the Temburong Bridge, the largest infrastructure building project in Brunei's history, is underway. The bridge spans 12 km over the sea and 10 km over the land, and the total construction cost stands at about US$1.5 billion. Korea-based Daelim Industrial Co. won an order to build two of the five sections of the bridge now under construction. It is one of the two countries’ many joint infrastructure and construction projects.
The two leaders also welcomed the fact that the number of flights between Incheon and Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei, by the state-owned Royal Brunei Airlines has increased from two to three per week since August.
In addition, President Moon explained about the Korean Government’s efforts to achieve complete denuclearization and establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula and asked for continued support from Brunei to this end.