Press Release – Ambassadorial Lecture “After the Commemorative Summit, Future of ASEAN-Korea Strategic Partnership”

On Friday, March 6, 2020, ASEAN Studies Center UGM held an Ambassadorial Lecture by the Ambassador of The Republic of Korea to ASEAN, H.E. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Lim Sungnam, under the theme of “After the Commemorative Summit, Future of ASEAN-Korea Strategic Partnership”. The Ambassadorial Lecture was held at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM).

The Ambassadorial Lecture delivered four topics namely The Korean Miracle, The ASEAN Miracle, Current ASEAN-ROK Relations, and the Future of ASEAN-ROK Relations. During the first discussion, Ambassador Lim Sungnam explained how the Republic of Korea had endured the brutality of colonialism and evolved from the aftermath of the Second World War to become a developed nation in 1989. Ambassador Lim Sungnam referred to this development as the “Miracle of the Han River”. The next section of the Lecture, H.E. Lim Sungnam talked about the origin of ASEAN that had developed from a group of five Southeast Asian Foreign Ministers from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, into a formal organization today consisting of 10 ASEAN Member States and 10 Dialogue Partners . In the third discussion, Ambassador Lim Sungnam explained the relationship of ASEAN and the Republic of Korea which had developed from a sectoral dialogue partnership in 1989 toward the establishment of the first Korean Permanent Mission to ASEAN in 2019. Ambassador Lim Sungnam also emphasized the cultural relations between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea in the field of arts and gender equality, as well as the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund aimed at funding scholars and scientists from ASEAN countries. Lastly, Ambassador Lim Sungnam reiterated President Moon Jae-In’s foreign policy of “New Southern Policy” as the future collaboration between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea which upholds three principles namely people-centered community, prosperity, and peace.

The Lecture was followed by a Questions and Answers session. The session was lively as participants were eager to raise questions on interesting topics. Among them were questions on the Republic of Korea’s stance on ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and Korean Wave (Hallyu) impact on ASEAN countries. Ambassador Lim Sungnam reaffirmed the Republic of Korea’s support for ASEAN on AOIP and empowered the notion of ASEAN countries’ art and culture industries to develop their products in keeping up with the Korean Wave.

In closing the Ambassadorial Lecture, Ambassador Lim Sungnam presented an antique map of Asia from the 18^th century to UGM which was followed by an exchange of token of appreciation from the ASEAN Studies Center.

The Ambassadorial Lecture was attended by scholars from around Yogyakarta including Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII), and Universitas Achmad Dahlan (UAD) and several notable institution and student organization from Yogyakarta.