Park secures ASEAN support for her regional peace initiative

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN ― President Park Geun-hye on Thursday secured support from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations for her initiative to build trust and peace in Northeast Asia.

During an “ASEAN Plus Three” summit that includes South Korea, China and Japan, Park said her initiative and existing confidence-building mechanisms in Southeast Asia would create a synergic effort for the region’s pursuit of an East Asian community.

Since her inauguration in February, Park has promoted her drive to help resolve what she calls the “Asia paradox,” which refers to the region’s deepening economic interdependence and escalating territorial rows and historical animosities.

“There is correlation between Park’s peace initiative and ASEAN with trust-building experience,” Park was quoted as saying by Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Kyung-soo. “With these two working together, her drive would help promote the forging of an East Asian community.”

Park’s initiative seeks to build trust first in non-political areas such as climate change, anti-terrorism and nuclear energy, and then on tougher issues such as security, and ultimately forge multilateral confidence for peace.

But there has been some skepticism over the plan. Critics argue that the initiative could overlap with other existing institutions such as the ASEAN Regional Forum, and that more attention should be paid to security issues considering that the region has already made much progress on soft issues including trade.

During the ASEAN Plus Three meeting, Park also noted a series of achievements the dialogue has made and stressed the need for stepped-up cooperation to chart the future direction of the forum.

The achievements included a regional currency swap deal, called Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization; the Macroeconomic Research Office, an oversight and decision-making body under the CMIM; and the Emergency Rice Reserve to fight a possible food crisis.

Park also said the vision to launch the region’s economic community by 2020 is the right direction the forum should pursue as a future goal. The vision was reported to the 2012 summit.

The ASEAN Plus Three was launched in 1997 when Asia was hit by a financial crisis. Since its inception, its members have widened and deepened cooperation in about 20 areas including the finance, agriculture, environment, culture and education.

Later in the day, Park also attended the East Asia Summit, which includes Australia, India, New Zealand, the U.S. and Russia. Launched in 2005, the 18-member EAS is a forum to discuss more strategic, political and security issues.

Like at the ASEAN-related meetings, participants in the EAS supported Seoul’s policy toward the unpredictable regime in Pyongyang. Park’s policy seeks to build trust with the North through dialogue while maintaining robust deterrence.

Adopted a day earlier at the close of the Korea-ASEAN summit, its chairman’s statement encouraged Pyongyang to comply with all international agreements against its nuclear development and expressed support for all efforts to achieve the “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization” of the peninsula in a peaceful manner.

During the EAS session, leaders agreed on the need to bolster joint cooperation on climate change, maritime security in the South China Sea, disaster relief, and food and energy security.

On the issue of maritime cooperation, Park said securing peaceful, free maritime navigation in the Asia-Pacific is of great importance. She also condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria as a “grave war crime.”

In the afternoon, Park flew to Jakarta, Indonesia, for a summit with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Throughout ASEAN-related forums here, South Korea and other regional forums focused on bolstering ties with the strategically crucial ASEAN.

President Park has emphasized the ASEAN as a partner to share “trust and happiness” ― a centerpiece of her statecraft philosophy ― and sought to increase economic and security cooperation.

For regional powers, the resource-rich Southeast Asian states are also of great strategic importance as they stretch across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where the world’s most crucial trading and energy supply routes pass, including the vulnerable and congested Strait of Malacca.

While stepping up its “rebalancing” policy toward and within Asia-Pacific, Washington has also sought to deepen its partnerships with the ASEAN countries including Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.

In particular, the U.S. has recently sought to improve ties with the strategically vital Myanmar as the country has stepped up its democratic reform. Myanmar is a crucial point for China as it can link it to the Indian Ocean covering crucial sea lines of communication.

China has also launched a flurry of diplomacy with ASEAN states. Its President Xi Jinping visited Indonesia and Malaysia on the occasion of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit earlier this week.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also met or will meet leaders of Thailand and Vietnam on the occasion of the ASEAN forums. Its Foreign Minister Wang Yi has plans to visit seven ASEAN states including Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.

Japan has also been striving to court the ASEAN. After his inauguration last December, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decided the ASEAN as a destination for his first overseas trip. Within this year, Abe seeks to visit all 10 ASEAN states.

By Song Sang-ho, Korea Herald correspondent

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