KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said that South Korea, China, and Japan should strengthen cooperation with Asean to better respond to emerging challenges like trade protectionism and shifting global supply chains.
“Today, we are facing new geoeconomic challenges such as protectionism and the restructuring of global supply chains. We must accelerate cooperation under the Asean+3 framework involving South Korea, China, and Japan,” he said, as reported by Yonhap News Agency.
Lee welcomed the adoption of a joint statement aimed at enhancing economic and financial cooperation among the three Northeast Asian nations, describing the move as “very timely.”
Regional challenges have become increasingly complex and multilayered, with ageing populations, low birth rates, the digital divide, climate change, food and energy insecurity, and transnational crime.
“We will work closely with China and Japan to create a virtuous cycle in which trilateral exchanges drive stronger Asean+3 cooperation, and cooperation under the framework further energises trilateral engagement,” he said.
Lee was speaking at the Asean Plus Three Summit in Kuala Lumpur, attended by Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.
His first in-person meeting with Li came ahead of his planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Saturday (November 1), to be held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.
Consultations are also underway to arrange Lee’s first meeting with the newly appointed Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during APEC, according to the Presidential Office.
