FROM THE EDITORS · FROM THE EDITORS Dear readers For the last couple of years, we have seen...

FROM THE EDITORSDear readers

For the last couple of years, we have seen essential developments in ASEAN states’ security predicament. From traditional security issues, such as contestation between the US and China in the region, the territorial dispute in the South China Sea, and the nuclear threat from North

Korea; to non-traditional security issues such as terrorism, piracy, trafficking, cyber-crimes, and many more. In the future, these issues might create implications for ASEAN’s future regional security role and ASEAN’s relations to its dialogue partners.

The April edition of ASEAN Insights raises the issue of ‘Maritime and Security Affairs,’ which presents a discussion about current security problems and experts’ perspectives about those issues. The first article, written by Ristian Atriandi, discusses the notion of Indo-Pacific and the ASEAN’S contending vision on it. The article also points out the role of Indo-Pacific in shaping the outlook of maritime security in ASEAN. Meanwhile, the second article by Dr. Lim Hae-sung points out how Indonesia and ASEAN can contribute to the peace process between North and South Korea. Additionally, this issue also presents the latest news and information on ASEAN.

I hope you enjoy the reading!With best wishes,Managing EditorAisha R. Kusumasomantri

ASEAN Study CenterDepartment of International RelationsFaculty of Social and Political Sciences Universitas IndonesiaNusantara 2 Building, 2nd Floor Depok, West Java - IndonesiaTel/Fax: +62 21 7873744 • email: aseanstudiescenter@ui.ac.idhttp://asc.fisip.ui.ac.id/?page_id=57

asean insights

asean insights is a monthly newsletter which aims to provide important insights on ASEAN issues. The news-letter is published by ASEAN Study Center, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Indonesia, with the support from the Mission of the Republic of Korea to ASEAN. The content of asean insights does not re-flect the official opinion of the Mission of the Republic of Korea to ASEAN.

Mission of theRepublic of Korea to ASEAN

Vietnam7th ASEAN Coordina�ng

Commi�ee on Micro, Small, and Medium

Enterprise Mee�ng and Related Mee�ngs

01 April 2019

Phetchaburi, ThailandASEAN Defence Senior

Officials’ Mee�ng

03 April 2019

Bangkok, ThailandASEAN High-Level

Mee�ng on Human Capital Development

01 April 2019

Cambodia14th Senior Officials Mee�ng on Health

Development (SOMHD)

02-04 April 2019

02-06 April 2019

Chiang Rai, Thailand23rd ASEAN Finance Ministers’ Mee�ng;

5th ASEAN Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank

Governors’ Mee�ng and Related Mee�ngs

03-04 April 2019

Bangkok, ThailandThe 5th High Level

Regional Conference on Enhancing Coopera�on

on Border Management in the ASEAN Region

Indonesia11th ARF Inter-Sessional

Mee�ng on Non-Prolifera�on and

Disarmament

08-09 April 2019

MalaysiaASEAN Defence

Ministers’ Mee�ng on Humanitarian Assistance

and Disaster Relief

10-11 April 2019

Cambodia9th ASEAN PlusThree SOMHD

05 April 2019

Jakarta, Indonesia20th ASEAN-ChinaJoint Coopera�on

Commi�ee Mee�ng

09 April 2019

11-12 April 2019

IndiaASEAN-India SOM

17 April 2019

IndonesiaIndonesia

General Elec�on

Malaysia30th Mee�ng of the

Coordina�ng Commi�ee on Customs

08-09 April 2019

Melbourne, Australia11th AANZ FJC Mee�ng and Related Mee�ngs

28 April – 03 Mei 2019

Singapore17th Senior Officials

Mee�ng Responsible for Informa�on and Related

Mee�ngs

22-25 April 2019

Chiang Rai, ThailandSOM of the 20th ASEAN

Coopera�on on Civil Service ma�ers

24 April 2019

30 April – 02 Mei2019

FijiASEAN+3 Finance

Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Mee�ng

TBC

Myanmar34th Mee�ng of the

ASEAN Commi�ee on Disaster Management

BOARD OF EDITORSEdy Prasetyono

Evi Fitriani Hariyadi Wirawan

Shofwan Al Banna Choiruzzad

MANAGING EDITORAisha R. Kusumasomantri

FINANCIAL MANAGERYuni R. Intarti

LAYOUT & DESIGNIvan Sanjaya

SUPPORTING TEAMMutaaririn Nurul HidayahSestyo Ndaru Wicaksono

CONTENTS

01ASEAN Updates

02Opinion

ASEAN and Contending Visions of the Indo-Pacific

04Opinion

Indonesia and ASEAN’s Role in the Peace-makingProcess on the Korean Peninsula

07Book Review

The Significance of ASEAN for Southeast Asia:A Transformative Contribution

10Korean Mission Updates

06Spotlight

25th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Retreat

23rd ASEAN Finance Ministers Meeting and the 5th ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Gover-nors Meeting

08What They SayAbout ASEAN?

Prof. Hikmahanto JuwanaExpert of the Law of the Sea andProfessor of Law at Universitas Indonesia.

11Profile

Mission of the Republic of Korea to ASEANASEAN Study Center

APRIL1vol.2 no.2 april 2019 • asean insights

asean updates

2019

Vietnam7th ASEAN Coordina�ng

Commi�ee on Micro, Small, and Medium

Enterprise Mee�ng and Related Mee�ngs

01 April 2019

Phetchaburi, ThailandASEAN Defence Senior

Officials’ Mee�ng

03 April 2019

Bangkok, ThailandASEAN High-Level

Mee�ng on Human Capital Development

01 April 2019

Cambodia14th Senior Officials Mee�ng on Health

Development (SOMHD)

02-04 April 2019

02-06 April 2019

Chiang Rai, Thailand23rd ASEAN Finance Ministers’ Mee�ng;

5th ASEAN Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank

Governors’ Mee�ng and Related Mee�ngs

03-04 April 2019

Bangkok, ThailandThe 5th High Level

Regional Conference on Enhancing Coopera�on

on Border Management in the ASEAN Region

Indonesia11th ARF Inter-Sessional

Mee�ng on Non-Prolifera�on and

Disarmament

08-09 April 2019

MalaysiaASEAN Defence

Ministers’ Mee�ng on Humanitarian Assistance

and Disaster Relief

10-11 April 2019

Cambodia9th ASEAN PlusThree SOMHD

05 April 2019

Jakarta, Indonesia20th ASEAN-ChinaJoint Coopera�on

Commi�ee Mee�ng

09 April 2019

11-12 April 2019

IndiaASEAN-India SOM

17 April 2019

IndonesiaIndonesia

General Elec�on

Malaysia30th Mee�ng of the

Coordina�ng Commi�ee on Customs

08-09 April 2019

Melbourne, Australia11th AANZ FJC Mee�ng and Related Mee�ngs

28 April – 03 Mei 2019

Singapore17th Senior Officials

Mee�ng Responsible for Informa�on and Related

Mee�ngs

22-25 April 2019

Chiang Rai, ThailandSOM of the 20th ASEAN

Coopera�on on Civil Service ma�ers

24 April 2019

30 April – 02 Mei2019

FijiASEAN+3 Finance

Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Mee�ng

TBC

Myanmar34th Mee�ng of the

ASEAN Commi�ee on Disaster Management

Opinion

ASEAN and ContendingVisions of the Indo-Pacific

photo/AlejandroC

arnicero

The term “Indo-Pacific” has become a geopolitical construct to denote the confluence of two distinct and separate

maritime geographical regions: The Indian and Pacific oceans. The maritime character of the term sets it apart from the traditional sub-con-tinental division between “South” and “East” Asia. While the use of the term itself is not nov-el, the reason why the term finds the currency of late is.

At heart is the expansion of commercial sea-borne traffic between rising economic centers in Asia (especially China and India) and more developed economies in Europe and North America. Data from the 2018 UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport shows the ratio of estimat-ed containezised cargo flows between Trans-In-do-Pacific (viz. combined totals of Trans-Pacific and Europe-Asia-Europe) and Transatlantic has increased from 7:2 in 1997 to 13:2 in 2017 re-spectively. In other words, the share of Trans-atlantic flows in 2017 only constituted roughly fifteen percent that of Trans-Indo-Pacific’s total.

Contending visionsExponential growth in seaborne commerce, among others, increases the stakes in maritime security, especially in the security of sea lines of communications (SLOC). While the US and, to a lesser extent, the UK have since the end of World War II been playing de facto leadership in the maintenance of SLOC security, this role is not without controversy in nor opposition from other nations. Divergent national values and cultures shape various models of socio-political developments, which in turn, project multiple visions of desired global and regional (mari-time) orders.

One such order is the Indo-Pacific. Reflecting their desire to exert greater influence in this new regional order, some nations are promot-ing their own Indo-Pacific visions. To name a few, there is the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP) by Japan and the US, China with its “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI), and India’s “Securi-ty and Growth for All in the Region” (SAGAR). While none have explicitly said that their own vision of the Indo-Pacific seeks to exclude the others, doubts have arisen whether each of these visions is as inclusive and benign in intent as the others would like it to be.

5vol.2 no.2 april 2019 • asean insights

AuthorRistian Atriandi Suprianto

Indonesian LPDP Presidential Ph.D. Scholar with the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the

Australian National University in Canberra

High-level dialogue Towering above all critiques is that the Indo-Pacific is suggestive of an informal coalition formed against a particular country (viz. China). Different interpre-tations and indeed, suspicions, of the term motivat-ed Indonesia to convene an informal “High-Level Dialogue on Indo-Pacific Cooperation” in Jakarta on 20 March 2019.

The dialogue aims not only to dispel suspicions and build confidence among the participating coun-tries but also to reconcile the various concepts of the Indo-Pacific “without trying to blend them into a single concept”. For its part, Indonesia aims to make the East Asian Summit (EAS) as the platform to promote the “Indo-Pacific Cooperation Concept”. Indeed, despite its nomenclature, the EAS includes member states residing in both oceanic regions. Having the EAS to reconcile all Indo-Pacific visions would conveniently place ASEAN at the centre of theIndo-Pacific debates, dispel suspicions of exclusivity in the Indo-Pacific concept, and provide a common, if not a neutral, platform where EAS members can discuss and find solutions to global and regional problems.

By incorporating the Indo-Pacific concept into the EAS, ASEAN may face greater scrutiny from its ten dialogue partners. With ASEAN members them-selves already finding it difficult to reach consensus on issues such as the South China Sea, Rohingya, and others, the dialogue partners will question whether ASEAN can shoulder yet another “burden” Indo-Pacific. Should ASEAN set itself up to the task,

the major obstacle that the grouping will face would be measuring the Indo-Pacific concept’s degree of acceptance and inclusivity. As ASEAN itself has ex-perienced, more is not necessarily merrier. A wider number of participants would render the “ASEAN Way” of building consensus more difficult to thread, and bring the threshold of the “lowest common de-nominator” that forms the basis of that consensus, even lower.

Maritime cooperationOf the three areas that the Indo-Pacific Cooperation Concept seeks to focus, one is on maritime coopera-tion. While much emphasis is given to the economic and environmental dimensions of maritime cooper-ation (more feasible due to their less sensitive na-ture), the “ASEAN Way” often skirts around conten-tious geopolitical issues such as maritime disputes, for fear of undermining ASEAN unity.

Potential conflicts arising from unresolved maritime territorial and boundary disputes, especially in the South China Sea, continue to pose risks to maritime safety and security. The trend in the use of so-called “white hulls” law enforcement units to manage maritime disputes, including arbitrary enforcement of fishing rights, lends a façade of non-provocative measures behind what appears to be state-sanc-tioned, if unarmed, violence at sea. Whatever ac-tion plans the Indo-Pacific concept has in store for maritime cooperation, reversing this trend will re-main the ultimate test for ASEAN on its path to be-come a political-security community.

4 asean insights • vol.2 no.2 april 2019

Indonesia and ASEAN’s Role in the Peace-making Process on theKorean Peninsula

Opinion

AuthorDr. Lim Hae-sung Visiting fellow at the ASEAN Study Center FISIP Universitas Indonesia.

ASEAN, which started in 1969 with the values of Peace, Prosperity, and Prog-ress, now grew to become a more co-

hesive ASEAN Community starting in 2015, fo-cusing on political-security, economy, as well as socio-culture. ASEAN has proven its consistent interest regarding inter-Korean peace and re-gional stability over the past 50 years and has consistently expressed that it can play a positive role in North Korea’s reform and its opening up to the outside world as well as its econom-ic development. In the joint statement of the 25th ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit, ASEAN expressed its intention to join forces for peace on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia, and through the APEC Summit (November 2017) and the ASEAN-related sum-mit, it proposed a plan of future community to strengthen international cooperation to resolve inter-Korean issues. ASEAN has become a suc-cessful regional partner by keeping neutral prin-ciples that do not lean on one side despite the development of relations with South Korea, and the North Korea-ASEAN relationship has also been maintained despite the North Korean nu-clear crisis thanks to the traditional friendship, neutrality, and economic cooperation between them. ASEAN is the only regional partner to sup-port North Korea’s reform and its opening up to

the outside world and to offer various alterna-tives, with its neutrality as well as geopolitical advantages with all parties in conflict compared to other countries and organizations, which are most suitable to become a peacemaker on the Korean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, as one of the first nations in South-east Asia to participate in the G20 and as a coun-try with ASEAN Secretariat, Indonesia has built an exclusive strategic partnership with Korea. Furthermore, as the central pillar of ASEAN’s economic diplomacy and the leader of non-aligned diplomacy, Indonesia has maintained close ties with North Korea for a long time.

Indonesia, which is also the middle power coun-try that is pursued by Moon Jae-In to be the model of a country with balanced diplomacy, is the core country in MIKTA (Mexico, Indone-sia, South Korea, Turkey, Australia). Balanced diplomacy is a key strategy of middle power di-plomacy for the formation of a unification base between North and South Korea, and Indonesia in this regard is a traditional diplomatic power and a very important country to understand the strategy of balanced diplomacy of middle power countries.

illustration/Mike Trukhachev

The year 2019 is a very important year as it marks the establishment of the 30th Korea-ASEAN dialogic relation. It is the time for Moon Jae-In’s government to approve ASEAN’s contin-uous support regarding the peace-making pro-cess in the Korean Peninsula and to strengthen the foundation of peace and stability internally.

Until recently, due to Moon Jae-In government’s limitation of only approaching the inter-Kore-an issues through the dimension of the United States and Northeast Asia, Korea-ASEAN’s rela-tionship is relatively treated negligently. On the other hand, after the establishment of Moon Jae-In’s government, through the expansion of ASEAN’s norms and roles such as sending the first ASEAN special envoy, there has been active pursuing of methods to contribute to making peace on the Korean Peninsula.

For the sake of the virtuous cyclic progress of the inter-Korean relation, which has been built from 2018 up until recently through 3 proce-dures of inter-Korean summits and 2 proce-dures of North Korea-United States summits undergone by Moon Jae-In’s government, and for the sake of permanent peace-making of Ko-rean Peninsula, Korea-ASEAN is trying to make a ‘people of peace and prosperity for the commu-nity’ relationship. In this period, international

society’s support and cooperation are essential for the peaceful resolution of the inter-Korean issues. In other words, unification of the Korean Peninsula is achievable not only with the effort of the two Koreas, but also with the support and cooperation of the international community, es-pecially ASEAN’s active support, cooperation, and role to allow North Korea to participate as a responsible member of the international com-munity is hugely expected.

The problem of peace, prosperity, and unifica-tion of the Korean Peninsula that is pursued by Moon Jae-In’s government is not only theirs to solve, but indeed it is also a problem associated with the world order. Moreover, Korea-ASEAN is an important partner that cannot be separated from each other. Therefore, ASEAN and Korea should strengthen their two-way cooperation system, which shares and pursues important agendas for each other, and ASEAN will be able to grow through a more developed relationship by actively proposing concrete solutions for peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula. Mainly Moon Jae-In’s government should inti-mately cooperate more with Indonesia as the center of ASEAN, which explains the reason to establish the New Southern Policy within ASEAN successfully.

5vol.2 no.2 april 2019 • asean insights

Spotlight

6 asean insights • vol.2 no.2 april 2019

The 23rd ASEAN Finance Ministers Meet-ing and the 5th ASEAN Finance Min-

isters and Central Bank Governors Meet-ing (AFMGM) were held in Chiang Rai,Thailand on 5 April 2019. The ASEAN Finance Ministers Meeting was held under the co-chairmanship of Apisak Tantivorawong, Minis-ter of Finance of Thailand, and Mr. Veerathai Santi-prabhob, Governor of the Bank of Thailand. ASEAN Finance Ministers signed The 8th Protocol to Imple-ment Financial Services Liberalisation under the ASE-AN Framework Agreement on Services.

Meanwhile, AFMGM discussed the progress of the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025 and ASEAN financial cooperation, including key initiatives on (1) further integrating the region’s payment sys-tems in the digital economy, (2) enhancing connec-tivity and trade through customs cooperation, (3) strengthening disaster resilience and (4) promot-ing sustainable financing in the capital markets and banking integration.

23rd ASEAN Finance Ministers Meeting and

the 5th ASEANFinance Ministers and

Central Bank Governors Meeting (AFMGM)

photo/asean.org

ASEAN Ministers convened in Phuket, Thailand from 22 to 23 April 2019. The meeting focused

on three major issues, including future development goals, connectivity enhancement, and sustainable de-velopment. The ministers discussed the progress of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), global economic issues and ASEAN’s external economic relations, includ-ing the progress of the conclusion of Regional Econom-ic Partnership negotiations and the ongoing debate on reforming the World Trade Organization. The ministers also endorsed 13 priority economic deliverables to ad-vance ASEAN’s work in preparing a strategic response

for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Two agreements were signed: the ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement and the Fourth Protocol to Amend the ASEAN Compre-hensive Investment Agreement. The first agreement provides the mandate for countries to transition to-wards a negative list approach for deeper integration in the future. The latter incorporates obligations on the prohibition of performance requirements which will ensure the best treatment for ASEAN investors.

25th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Retreat

photo/asean.org

Book Review

Among works of literature about ASEAN, this book brought us a perspective that sees ASEAN from ‘within’. This notion is

related to the way Mr. Marty Natalegawa explains the content of this book through his years of ex-periences working closely with ASEAN.

This book asks a clear question, “Does ASEAN Matter?” The author’s answer is, yes, ASEAN does matter. The author then argues that ASEAN contri-butions to the region have been nothing less than transformative. To explain this further, this book firstly explains the changes in the world from 1967, when ASEAN was founded, to the present. From this context, the second chapter gives us comprehensive explanations and examples about how ASEAN helped the region to transform from the condition of Trust Deficit, refer to the Cold War dynamics, to Strategic Trust between coun-tries in Southeast Asia. The author argues that aspects like norms and principles in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), especially the no-tion of “Settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful means” and “Renunciation of the threat or use of force” also helped the transformation.Furthermore, the third chapter of this book em-phasizes the role of ASEAN in altering the position of Southeast Asian states in the broader region. The countries in Southeast Asia can now have

centrality through ASEAN, in terms of being in the “driving seat” in shaping the region’s politi-cal, diplomatic, and economic architecture. In the fourth chapter, the author argues that ASEAN has also contributed to ushering in a people-centered ASEAN. However, the transition from a state-cen-tric to a people-centric is a process rather than an event, so, the member countries should attain optimum equilibrium between the demands of state-centric and people-oriented ASEAN.

After elaborating the contributions to the region that clearly depict the significance of ASEAN, a question arises whether ASEAN will still be rele-vant in the future. In this regard, the last chap-ter of this book mentions at least four traits for ASEAN that will be important for the future con-text. In order to remain relevant, these qualities should be maintained and enhanced by ASEAN. The traits are ASEAN Unity and Cohesion, Coop-erative Leadership, Transformative Outlook and the Enhancement of People-centric Outlook. All of these traits are quite clear and significant al-though there is some room for more elaboration in the explanation of Cooperative Leadership. Thus, the author believes that ASEAN will prosper even though some challenges will inevitably be found ahead.

Book Title:Does ASEAN Matter? A View from Within.Book Author: Marty Natalegawa Date of publication: 2018Publisher: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak InstituteISBN: 978-981-4786-74-4

AuthorRizky Widian

Lecturer at theDepartment of International Relations,

Parahyangan Catholic University

The Significance of ASEAN for SoutheastAsia: A Transformative Contribution

7vol.2 no.2 april 2019 • asean insights

W h a tT h e yS a ya b o u t ASEAN?

In your opinion, what is the most immi-nent maritime security challenges for ASEAN today?

I suppose there are three main challenges. The first one is to safeguard international naviga-tion. I think a lot of countries are very interested in this issue, since archipelagic states in ASEAN, such as Indonesia, have international sea pas-sages. It entails security issues in the sense that ASEAN countries do not want to be dominated by external actors and they want to make sure that there is no criminal act, such as piracy, that threatens the freedom of international naviga-tion. The second challenge lies in the issue of sea conservation. As we understand, South East Asia’s waters are going to be vulnerable to envi-ronmental problems, for example, oil spill, gas leaks and many other things. Meanwhile, the third challenge is that ASEAN will have to make sure that there is no use of nuclear weapons in the region. ASEAN had committed to making sure that there is not going to be any nuclear weapons being used or transferred within its waters.

What do you think about the current ASEAN framework in mitigating maritime security challenges?Of course this is a challenge for ASEAN. First of all, do we have the resources? When I said re-sources, it’s not only in a sense that we have enough budget to secure our waters for inter-national navigation. We have to consider about ASEAN countries’ personnel and equipment, which are important parts to uphold its mari-time security. Secondly, the issue is whether ASEAN countries can work together. An exam-ple would be the strait of Malacca, which lies in the territories of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The three countries often have dif-ferent perspectives on how we make sure that the strait is safe from security threats. The third challenge, I think, is how we are going to coop-erate with other countries outside ASEAN, par-ticularly our dialogue partners. Many countries are keen to cooperate with ASEAN states. How-ever, of course, from ASEAN’s perspective, we want to make sure that the assistance we got from external actors would not compromise our sovereignty.

The following questions are directed to

Prof. Hikmahanto JuwanaExpert of the Law of the Sea and

Professor of Law at Universitas Indonesia.

8 asean insights • vol.2 no.2 april 2019

What do you think about the currentASEAN framework in mitigating maritime security challenges?ASEAN states may have different perspectives on what is threats. For example, Indonesia doesn’t think of China as a threat. However, Vietnam and the Philippines might think oth-erwise because they are involved in territori-al disputes with China. This also goes on how the ASEAN states are going to address security threat in the region’s waters. When an ASEAN state conducts joint patrols or dialogues with external actors, there is a question on wheth-er the other ASEAN countries are comfortable with it. I think ASEAN countries should work on this issue. We have to have a discussion and negotiation in order to align our perception. If we want to, I am sure we can uphold the region’s maritime security.

What are the roles of ASEAN Dialogue Partners in creating Southeast Asia mari-time stability?Well, this is an important one. Of course, we want to hear from ASEAN dialogue partners about their interests and concern in the re-gion’s waters. For example, on the issue of the South China Sea. What is the perception of the United States on this issue? What is the per-ception of Japan? What is the perception of China? We need to hear their opinions and use it as a point of discussion within ASEAN. So, I think it is important for ASEAN to have a conversation with its dialogue partners.

Is there anything that ASEAN can do to prepare for future maritime securitychallenges in Southeast Asia?There are a lot of things that ASEAN can do. As I mentioned, the question is whether ASEAN countries have the resources to secure the region’s water. However, currently, ASEAN states are more concerned with their domestic issues. It is understandable since many of the domestic issues might cost state instability—which will have an effect on ASEAN. One of the first things that ASEAN can do is to make sure that there is a proper Code of Conduct (CoC) within the region. The ASEAN previously had discussed the CoC issue among the member states, as well as with China. I think it is very important to make sure that the “cold war” within the region not turn into a “hot war”. Second, ASEAN needs to conduct a joint patrol with other countries. Third, there are numer-ous issues of non-traditional security in South-east Asia waters, for example, illegal fishing and piracy. Settlements of those non-tradition-al security issues are often hampered with the clarity of international and domestic laws of the sea. So, this is a delicate issue that needs to be discussed carefully among ASEAN countries, particularly since the debate can cause political consequences within the region. ASEAN has to make sure that these issues will not affect its effort in maintaining its maritime security.

10 asean insights • vol.2 no.2 april 2019

Korean MissionUpdates

Jakarta, 15 April 2019 ASEAN and the Repub-lic of Korea (ROK) reaffirmed commitment to strengthen their partnership further and en-

hance cooperation at the 6th ASEAN-ROK Joint Coop-eration Committee (JCC) meeting held on 12 April at the ASEAN Secretariat.

The meeting noted the positive status of development cooperation between ASEAN and the ROK, particularly in support of the ASEAN community building efforts. ASEAN welcomed the ROK’s plan to double its contri-bution to the ASEAN-ROK Cooperation Fund (AKCF) by

the end of 2019 to support more joint programs and projects. Both sides discussed the preparation for the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit to be held in November in Busan, ROK, on the occasion of the 30th

Anniversary of Dialogue Relations.

The 6th ASEAN-ROK JCC Meeting was co-chaired by the Permanent Representative of Brunei Darussalam to ASEAN Kasmalati Dato Kassim and Ambassador of the ROK to ASEAN Kim Young-chae. It was attended by the Permanent Representatives of ASEAN Member States and representatives of the ASEAN Secretariat.

ASEAN, ROK to continue strengthening partnership

asean insights welcomes opinion piece and publication review from creative and talented international scholars and professionals. There will be incentive and interesting souvenirs for authors. Our upcoming themes are as follow:

Editions Issues3rd Issue (May 2019) ASEAN Economic Cooperation4th Issue (June 2019) Towards ASEAN Summit5th Issue (July 2019) ASEAN Summit

For submission, please contact us at aseanstudiescenter@ui.ac.id

asean insights

The ASEAN Study Center Universitas Indo-nesia (ASC UI) is devoted to research and discussion on issues that pertain to the As-sociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASE-AN) as an institution and a process. The Centre aims to provide inputs to ASEAN member states and ASEAN bodies on issues and events that call for collective ASEAN actions and responses, especially those pertinent to building the ASEAN Commu-nity. The ASC UI seeks to illuminate ways of promoting ASEAN’s purposes of political solidarity, economic integration and re-gional cooperation, and finding pragmatic solutions to the challenges on the path to achieving this.

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Universitas IndonesiaNusantara II Building, 2nd Floor Depok,

West Java - Indonesia 16424Tel/Fax: +62 21 7873744

email: aseanstudiescenter@ui.ac.idhttp://asc.fisip.ui.ac.id/?page_id=57

Mission of the Republic of Korea to ASEANSentral Senayan II, 23F. JL. Asia Afrika No.8,

Gelora Bung Karno Jakarta - Indonesia 10270 Tel : +62 21 5795 1830

http://overseas.mofa.go.kr/asean-en/index.do

Mission of the Republic of Koreato ASEAN

In 2012, the Korean Government es-tablished the Mission of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Ja-karta, where the ASEAN Secretariat is located. As a dialogue partner, the Ko-rean Government is fully committed to bolstering its contributions to the inte-gration process of ASEAN. The Mission of the Republic of Korea to ASEAN will strive to further strengthen and deep-en the multifaceted development co-operation between Korea and ASEAN in all possible fields, including politics, economy, society and culture.