JAKARTA, 11 March 2026 – ASEAN and the Republic of Korea (ROK) reaffirmed their commitment to continue advancing their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) at the 13th Meeting of the ASEAN-ROK Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC), held today at the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat.
The Meeting noted the good momentum in ASEAN-ROK cooperation to implement the CSP established in 2024. Substantive progress has been made across various areas of cooperation in the implementation of the ASEAN-ROK Plan of Action to Implement the Joint Vision Statement for Peace, Prosperity and Partnership (2021–2025), such as traditional and non-traditional security cooperation, trade and investment, digital transformation, energy, disaster management, environment, education, culture, and people-to-people exchanges.
Both sides agreed to continue working closely to effectively implement the new Plan of Action to Implement the CSP (2026–2030), with a view to further strengthening the CSP and supporting the ASEAN Community Vision 2045.
The Meeting discussed ways to enhance cooperation in priority and emerging areas such as maritime security; transnational crime, including online scams, cybersecurity; trade and investment in view of the upcoming ASEAN-Korea FTA Upgrade negotiations; digitalisation including in light of the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement; clean and renewable energy including supporting the ASEAN Power Grid; environment and climate change; education; aging population, smart cities; and connectivity. The ROK affirmed its continued support for ASEAN Centrality and ASEAN Community building efforts as well as its strong support for ASEAN’s priorities under the Philippines’ Chairship 2026. The ROK also reiterated its commitment to further strengthening practical cooperation in the key areas of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) in line with the Joint Statement on cooperation on the AOIP adopted at the 24th ASEAN-ROK Summit in 2023.
The Meeting was co-chaired by the Permanent Representative of Thailand to ASEAN, Prinat Apirat, and Charge d’Affairs of the Mission of ROK to ASEAN, Hahm Jeonghan, and attended by the Permanent Representatives of ASEAN Member States or their representatives, as well as representatives of the ASEAN Secretariat and their respective delegations.