South Korea seeks to strengthen its partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) under the goal of elevating their ties into a comprehensive strategic partnership next year, Seoul's top diplomat said Thursday.
In a meeting with the foreign ministers of ASEAN in Jakarta, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said Seoul plans to "deepen and expand our partnership with ASEAN" through KASI, or the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative.
KASI is a diplomatic initiative by the South Korean government tailored toward the ASEAN region, which calls for the enhancement of strategic communication and cooperation for regional peace and stability.
The initiative, of which the full text was finalized three months ago, is a key component of South Korea's Indo-Pacific strategy announced in November of last year.
"Part of these efforts will culminate in establishing the ASEAN-ROK comprehensive strategic partnership next year at the 35th anniversary of dialogue relations," Park said during his opening remarks at the talks. ROK refers to South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
Source: Yonhap News Agency