Moon begins 8-day Southeast Asia trip

By Kim Rahn

President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook smile before boarding the presidential plane at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday, for a trip to three Southeast Asian countries. / Yonhap

President Moon Jae-in embarked on a trip to three Southeast Asian countries, Wednesday, for regional summits and bilateral talks.

This tour is expected to raise momentum for Moon to spur his drive to diversify the country’s diplomatic horizon.

He arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Wednesday evening. It was Moon’s first state visit to a foreign country since taking office in May.

On Thursday, he will pay tribute to fallen soldiers at Kalibata Heroes Cemetery and conduct a business forum where businesspeople of the two countries and economics-related government officials will take part.

At the forum, the President will announce a New Southern Policy that pairs with the New Northern Policy he announced earlier in Russia. The policy will highlight the importance of the ASEAN region as a new production and consumer market for South Korea.

Moon will have bilateral talks with his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo and discuss various issues including defense and economic cooperation, the resolution of North Korea’s nuclear threat and regional cooperation with ASEAN.

On Friday Moon will head to Danang, Vietnam, for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. He will discuss ways to boost regional economic cooperation with the participating countries.

He is also expected to hold bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the two-day APEC meeting. It will be the first summit between the two leaders since the two countries agreed to move forward despite the conflicts surrounding the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea.

Moon will also have a summit with his Vietnamese counterpart.

Afterward he will take part in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) +3 forum and the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Manila, the Philippines.

On Monday Moon will participate in the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit where he will deliver a speech on improving relations between South Korea and ASEAN.

He will also discuss cooperation in various fields in a meeting with heads of ASEAN countries, Monday, and at the ASEAN +3 forum and the EAS, Tuesday. The President will also have a meeting about the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which is a free trade deal sought by 16 nations in the Asia-Pacific region, and issue a joint statement.

During his visit to Manila, he is planning to have a meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang. He will return home Nov. 15.