ASEAN & ROK-ASEAN Relations
1. General Information
• Association of Southeast Asian Nations / established on August 8, 1967
• Member countries (10 countries)
- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
• Population: 600 million (2013)
• ASEAN Chair (Jan 2014-Dec 2014): Myanmar
• Dialogue partners (10 countries)
- ROK, China, Japan, Russia, the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, EU 2. Economic Information
Source: World Bank’s 2012 World Development Indicators
• GDP: 2 trillion USD
• Total Trade Volume: 2.4 trillion USD
(export: 1.24 trillion USD, import: 1.5 trillion USD)
3. ASEAN-ROK Relations
• Nov. 1989: ASEAN-ROK Sectoral Dialogue Partnership established
• Jul. 1991: ASEAN-ROK relations elevated to a Full Dialogue Partnership
• Mar. 2009: ASEAN-ROK Centre established
• Sep. 2009: ASEAN-ROK FTA concluded
• Oct. 2010: Joint Statement on the elevation of ASEAN-ROK relations from a Comprehensive Cooperative Partnership to a Strategic Partnership
• Sep 2012: Permanent Mission of the ROK to ASEAN established • ROK has diplomatic ties with all 10 ASEAN member countries
(North Korea also has diplomatic ties with all 10 countries)
• ASEAN is ROK’s 2nd largest trading partner, number two destination for foreign investment and the 2nd largest market for construction.
* Trade volume: 135.3 billion USD (export: 82 billion USD, import: 53.3 billion USD) ROK’s investment vis-à-vis ASEAN: 3.8 billion USD; construction: 14.3 billion USD
• ASEAN is the No.1 tourist destination for Koreans (4 million visitors in 2013) 4. Developments in ASEAN
• Much effort has been made towards the goal of establishing an ASEAN Community by 2015 including the ASEAN Charter which came in to effect in 2008.
* The establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015 is expected to create a market made up of 600 million people with a total GDP of 2 trillion USD.
