Yoon begins weeklong trip to Indonesia and India

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Yoon begins weeklong trip to Indonesia and India

Published: 05 Sep. 2023, 16:55 Updated: 05 Sep. 2023, 22:44

SARAH KIM
kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr

President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, and first lady Kim Keon Hee, right, are greeted by Indonesian officials and a group of dancers welcoming the Korean delegation arriving at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol began a weeklong, two-leg trip Tuesday to attend a series of Asean-related summits in Indonesia, an opportunity to highlight that Korea and Southeast Asia share strategic interests as they tackle tough regional and global issues.

Yoon, who was accompanied by first lady Kim Keon Hee as he departed on the presidential jet from at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, around noon Tuesday, will also head to India for the Group of 20 (G20) summit in New Delhi later in the week.

In Jakarta, Yoon will take part in a South Korea-Asean summit and an Asean Plus Three summit, both scheduled for Wednesday, and the East Asia Summit (EAS), a regional security forum, set for Thursday. Indonesia is the chair of this year's Asean meetings.

The 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean are: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

On Friday, Yoon will hold a bilateral summit with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the presidential palace, take part in a signing ceremony of bilateral agreements and hold a joint press conference. This is part of an official bilateral visit as the two countries celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations this year, and Yoon returns the Indonesian president's two-day trip to Seoul in July 2022.

During the visit, Yoon is expected to highlight his focus on the Korea- Asean Solidarity Initiative and strengthening cooperation in the cyber, maritime security and digital innovation sectors.

"As the peace and prosperity of Northeast and Southeast Asia are closely intertwined, the Republic of Korea and Asean are bound to share strategic interests," Yoon said in an interview with Indonesian daily Kompas published Tuesday ahead of the trip.

Yoon pointed out that the Indo-Pacific region is "at the center of geopolitical and geoeconomic challenges that face the international community" and that the two sides "must strengthen strategic solidarity and work closely together to defuse tensions in the region and lay the foundation for peace and prosperity."

Yoon also said that it is now time to put cooperation among South Korea, Japan and China "back on track as well," noting that South Korea is the current chair of the trilateral consultative body between the three countries.

Yoon further noted that North Korea's "ever-increasing missile provocations and nuclear threats pose a direct and existential threat to Asean member states as well."

He stressed South Korea and Asean "must join forces to respond decisively and cooperate closely on North Korea's denuclearization."

He called to strengthen solidarity and cooperation between South Korea and Asean, "so the rules-based international order will be able to take firm root in the Indo-Pacific region."

Yoon underscored that South Korea "will be an optimal partner that can share its economic development experience and know-how with Indonesia during its own economic development."

When asked if the Asean Plus Three grouping could be compared to other regional consultative bodies, Yoon said it is "not appropriate to directly compare Asean Plus Three to other minilateral groupings in the region." He pointed out that that the Asean Plus Three member states "far outnumber" the Quad and Aukus groupings and "specializes on mutual cooperation between Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia."

The Asean Plus Three group was founded in 1997 as a venue to discuss cooperation between Asean and its three East Asian partners, South Korea, Japan and China.

Aukus is a security partnership involving the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom, and the Quad refers to the U.S.-led quadrilateral security dialogue with Australia, India and Japan.

Such U.S.-led groupings have been seen as a means to better contain China amid the increasingly intense rivalry between Washington and Beijing.

Yoon first revealed the Korea-Asean Solidarity Initiative, meant to enhance strategic communication and cooperation with Southeast Asia to promote regional peace and stability, at Asean summits in Cambodia last November, which is a central part of Korea's Indo-Pacific strategy.

He also assured that the trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan institutionalized through the Camp David summit last month "does not intend to exclude any specific country or respond to a particular power," in a nod to Chinese concerns.

This marks the second consecutive year that Yoon will be taking part in the back-to-back Asean and G20 summits, with last year's gatherings taking place in November.

To celebrate Yoon's visit to Indonesia, a 30-second promotional video highlighting bilateral ties has appeared on major display boards at five locations in Jakarta since Sunday, according to the presidential office Tuesday.

The video emphasizes that "Indonesia is a key partner for peace and common prosperity" and relays the message that the two countries over the past five decades have developed ties through cooperation in fields such as technological development, economy, culture and people-to-people exchanges, and that they will further strengthen such cooperation in the future.

Indonesia has the largest population and largest domestic market amount Asean nations, accounting for 35 percent of the total gross domestic product in the region and an average annual growth rate over more than 5 percent over the past 20 years, a presidential office said.

On Friday, Yoon will head to New Delhi, India, for the second leg of his trip to attend the G20 summit to be attended by leaders of the world's top 20 economies.

Yoon will hold at least 14 bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Asean and G20 gatherings.

China has not yet confirmed if President Xi Jinping will be attending the summit.

Yoon and Kim will return to Seoul on Monday.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, waves alongside first lady Kim Keon Hee as they depart on the presidential jet from the Seoul Air Base in Gyeonggi, on Tuesday beginning a weeklong visit to Indonesia and India for Asean and G20 events. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]