(Unofficial Translation)

Honorable Chair, Excellencies,

In these difficult times of the lingering COVID-19 crisis, it is wonderful and reassuring to be reunited with all of you. I express my deepest respect to His Majesty Hassanal Bolkiah for his outstanding organization of this summit and extend my gratitude to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh of Viet Nam for assuming the role of coordinator for ASEAN-ROK dialogue.

To surmount COVID-19 and build back better, we must engage our friendship more deeply. In recent months, the Delta variant has been surging mostly in the areas with low vaccination rates while frequent production disruptions are holding back global economic recovery. Adversities in countries that are short of vaccines are spilling over into those that are not, reminding us that, after all, solidarity and cooperation are the only path toward beating the pandemic. 

ASEAN has been evolving into one community over the past half century, converting crises into opportunities along the way. Even amid the pandemic, ASEAN put into action the spirit of “One ASEAN, One Response,” setting an exemplary model of solidarity and partnership.

ASEAN and the Republic of Korea have together overcome the Asian Financial Crisis and Global Financial Crisis. Indeed, we attach great importance to our relations with ASEAN. Korea, as ASEAN’s friend, will defeat the virus together and strive to shape an inclusive, sustainable future together.

Building on the New Southern Policy pursued since 2017 and the New Southern Policy Plus unveiled last year, Korea has been working more vigorously with ASEAN. By pledging an additional US$5 million-dollar contribution to the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund, Korea hopes to help accelerate ASEAN’s vaccine roll-out. And by enhancing cooperation for global supply chain stability, we will help ASEAN recover its economic vitality.

With the Joint Statement of the 22nd ASEAN-ROK Summit today, we are declaring a much more strengthened commitment toward a People-centered Community of Peace and Prosperity. This, I believe, is indeed meaningful. We are determined to do everything we can to ratify the RCEP within this year and swiftly bring into force the Philippines-ROK FTA and the Cambodia-ROK FTA concluded and signed today. 

I hope today’s summit will provide an impetus to elevating the ASEAN-ROK Strategic Partnership to new heights.

Thank you.