Yoon deepens ties with ASEAN, seeks support on N. Korean issues

President Yoon Suk Yeol wrapped up a three-nation Southeast Asian trip Friday after a flurry of diplomacy to bolster relations with the strategic region and draw support on North Korean issues.

During the six-day trip, Yoon attended a series of annual summits involving the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Laos and made state visits to the Philippines and Singapore.

It marked Yoon’s third consecutive year attending the regional summit, which has grown in strategic significance amid the ongoing geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China.

This year, South Korea and ASEAN upgraded their relations to a “comprehensive strategic partnership,” the highest level of relations that ASEAN can forge with a dialogue partner.

South Korea is ASEAN’s sixth dialogue partner to have the highest-level of ties after the U.S., China, Japan, Australia and India.

Key discussions between Yoon and ASEAN leaders focused on expanding cooperation across several major sectors, including defense, the arms industry, digital technology, clean energy, cybersecurity and supply chains.

“As partners for shared prosperity, we will push for comprehensive cooperation covering a wide range of areas,” Yoon said during the South Korea-ASEAN summit on Thursday.

In economic terms, ASEAN stands as South Korea’s second-largest trading partner and investment destination, with bilateral trade totaling US$187.2 billion last year.

At the ASEAN Plus Three Summit, Yoon met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chinese Premier Li Qiang to explore cooperation on a multilateral currency swap deal, rice reserve program, electric vehicle manufacturing infrastructure and cultural exchanges.

A significant focus of Yoon’s diplomatic efforts was on rallying international support for addressing North Korea’s nuclear threat.

During the East Asia Summit (EAS), Yoon condemned the military cooperation between North Korea and Russia as “illegal” and in direct violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sat in the same room.

“The illegal military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is prolonging the war in Ukraine and directly challenging U.N. Security Council resolutions,” Yoon said during the EAS, calling for strengthening international solidarity to uphold “a rules-based international order.”

In line with his administration’s push to become a global pivotal state, Yoon outlined South Korea’s positions on key global issues at the annual summit, including tensions in the South China Sea, the ongoing crisis in Myanmar and the war in Ukraine.

Yoon advocated protection of “freedom of shipping and navigation” in the South China Sea in line with international laws, amid escalating tension between China and the Philippines in recent months.

On Myanmar, he voiced support for dialogue to end the violence in the country and pledged $23 million in humanitarian aid this year, about a fourfold increase from the previous year, to help resolve the crisis.

The ASEAN summits provided a venue for Yoon to engage in bilateral diplomacy, including with Vietnam, Thailand and Laos, as well as ASEAN’s dialogue partners, Japan and Australia.

On Thursday, Yoon held his first summit with Ishiba, who made his diplomatic debut at the ASEAN summit, and agreed on further advancing bilateral ties through respective visits and strengthening security cooperation with the U.S. against evolving North Korean threats.

During his visit to Singapore, South Korea and Singapore signed a supply chain partnership agreement aimed at establishing a crisis response network in the event of disruptions. Additionally, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on liquefied natural gas (LNG) cooperation, which includes joint purchases, LNG swaps and enhanced information sharing.

In the Philippines, the two countries forged a strategic partnership, marking the first upgrade in their 75 years of diplomatic relations.

As part of the partnership, South Korea pledged around $2 billion from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund to support key infrastructure projects and signed an MOU on a feasibility study on the long-dormant Bataan nuclear power plant to inspect whether it is safe to operate.