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제2차 한-ASEAN 사회문화 파트너십 세미나 Welcoming Remarks
(2015.10.13, 09:30)
Dr. Akhmadi ABBAS, Vice-Chairman of LIPI,
Dr. Aswatini, Deputy of Social Sciences & Humanities at LIPI, H.E. Ambassador Rahmat Pramono,
H.E. Ambassador Elisabeth Buensuceso, Excellencies and distinguished participants, And ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning to you all and welcome to the 2nd Seminar on the ROK & ASEAN Socio- Cultural Partnership.
It is my honor to deliver the Welcoming Remarks at this Seminar. I am truly honored to be here with our distinguished guests and participants of the seminar.
First, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the speakers and moderators from ASEAN states and Korea. Also, I would like to thank the Research Center for Regional Resources at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) for their hard works, cooperation to co-organize this Seminar with the Mission of the Republic of Korea to ASEAN.
This is the 2nd time that the Korean Mission to ASEAN in collaboration with LIPI organizes a seminar on the issue of the ASEAN-ROK socio-cultural relations. The first seminar was held in Jakarta last year to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of ASEAN-ROK Dialogue relations.
Also, as part of celebrating the 25th Anniversary of our relationship, in December last year, our leaders had gathered around in Busan, Korea.
At the Commemorative Summit in Busan, our leaders agreed that two sides need to enhance and expand our people-to-people linkage. We are well-aware that K-Wave, also known as hallyu, from Korea has been very popular in this region, but I do not think our Leaders’ agreement to enhance and expand our people-to-people linkage means only the wider spread of K-pop, Korean movies and dramas in the region. I believe that what our Leaders really meant is to deepen our mutual understanding of each other’s diverse cultural heritage in both directions, not one direction. For many Koreans, ASEAN’s rich and diverse cultural heritages are not well-introduced in Korea. To strengthen our people-to-people linkage, we need to begin with deepening our understandings of abundant and diverse cultural heritages of both ASEAN and Korea.
That is why our President proposed to establish an “ASEAN Culture House” in Busan at the Commemorative Summit which was cordially welcomed by ASEAN leaders. ASEAN Culture
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House is planned to complete its construction by 2017. I am so pleased to share with you that now Korea is in process of building an “ASEAN Culture House” in Busan. The year 2017 will also be very special for two other reasons. First, Korea and ASEAN will celebrate 2017 as the Year of “ASEAN-Korea Cultural Exchange.” Also, in 2017, ASEAN will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of its founding.
Ladies and gentlemen,
About two months away from now, we will see very significant milestone for ASEAN, the launch of the ASEAN Community made of 3 Pillars: ASEAN Political Security Community (APSC), ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC). As a Dialogue Partner of ASEAN, Korea will continue to be with ASEAN in its launch of ASEAN Community and beyond.
In this regard, I firmly believe that to achieve a successful establishment of ASEAN Community, the roles of ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community should be constantly emphasized.
The areas under the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community are directly linked with people of ASEAN and their everyday livelihoods. In order to achieve the main goal of “realizing a socially responsible and a truly people-oriented, people-centered ASEAN”, it is important to keep in mind two challenges which are closely interrelated with each other. First is how to tackle with daily issues such as public health, education, poverty eradication; second is how to raise ASEAN awareness in the process of ASEAN Community building efforts.
I believe that the solution lies with ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community and its areas of work.
ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community is in charge of the areas that would affect the daily- livelihoods of ASEAN population. An effective and efficient ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community will greatly contribute to raising people’s awareness of “oneness” and “belonging”.
Korea will be a very good partner for ASEAN to tackle with such issues that matter the most to ASEAN people. In this regard, the Korea-ASEAN Cooperation fund, which is increased to US 7 million Dollars as part of the outcomes of the Commemorative Summit last year, would be an enabler.
Ladies and gentlemen,
This is why I believe that today’s seminar covers very important subjects, including issues I shared with you. From today’s presentations and discussions, I hope that all of us here can gain and learn more knowledge about socio-cultural aspect of our successful relationship.
Moreover, I sincerely hope that this seminar can actually highlight the importance of ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community and its future after the official launch of ASEAN Community in the Post-2015 era. I wish all of you to have a meaningful seminar.
Thank you very much for your attention.
