For six days from September 1 to 6, President Moon Jae-in will make an official visit to Thailand and subsequent state visits to Myanmar and Laos.
During his official visit to the Kingdom of Thailand September 1-3, President Moon and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will hold a summit and discuss how to promote substantive bilateral cooperation to create new growth engines. To facilitate the success of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit and Mekong-Korea Summit slated for late November this year in Busan, President Moon plans on asking for collaboration from Thailand, the Chair of ASEAN for 2019.
From September 3 to 5, President Moon will make a state visit to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar where he will hold a summit with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and a meeting with President U Win Myint. During the meetings, President Moon will discuss how to cooperate for future sustainable shared growth between the two countries and matters related to laying an institutional foundation for expanding Korean companies' presence there.
Lastly, President Moon will fly to the Lao People's Democratic Republic for a state visit September 5-6 and hold a summit with President Bounnhang Vorachith and a meeting with Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith. During the talks, President Moon will exchange ideas about how to expand substantive cooperation for hydroelectric power generation among other areas of interest to both countries and on ways to assist with improving the lives of the people of Laos.
Thailand, Myanmar and Laos are nations that comprise a vital axis for the New Southern Policy, the highly emphasized initiative by President Moon to expand Korea’s diplomatic and economic horizons. They are also countries in the Mekong Region as well as key partners for the success of the inaugural Mekong-Korea Summit in November, which is intended to upgrade Korea-Mekong cooperation.
With this trip, President Moon will fulfill his pledge to visit all 10 ASEAN member states during his term earlier than planned. The trip will also likely solidify cooperative foundations for the success of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit and the Mekong-Korea Summit in Busan.