S.Korea, ASEAN yearn for free trade, anti-protectionism for regional prosperity

South Korea and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) clamored for free trade and anti-protectionism on Tuesday during the 2019 ASEAN-Republic of KOREA Commemorative Summit, held in Busan, a southern port city of South Korea.

“Amid growing concerns over protectionism around the world, we reaffirmed that free trade is the way leading to common prosperity,” South Korean President Moon Jae-in said in a joint press conference with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha after wrapping up the summit.

“[South] Korea and ASEAN will build on free trade to move toward an innovative community of mutual prosperity,” said Moon, who repeatedly welcomed the conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) during the two-day summit to commemorate the 30th anniversary of dialogue relations between the two sides.

Fifteen RCEP participating countries concluded text-based negotiations and all market access issues earlier this month in Bangkok, Thailand, with an aim to sign the mega free trade pact next year.

Initiated in 2012, the RCEP brings together the 10 ASEAN members and their six trading partners in the region, including China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand.

“We welcomed the conclusion of text-based negotiations for all 20 chapters of the RCEP by 15 participating countries earlier this month in Thailand with a view to signing the agreement in 2020,” the Thai prime minister told the joint press conference.

Asked about the emphasis on the RCEP, Chung Haemoon, former South Korean ambassador to Thailand and former chief of the Seoul-based ASEAN-Korea Center, said in an interview with Xinhua that the regional trade deal would benefit both ASEAN and South Korea.

“We are in the middle of uncertainties in the global economic and trade environment. This RCEP will be like a whiff of fresh air in the world community that must be very anxious about the uncertainties,” said Chung.

“I believe RCEP will serve as an anchor for an open, inclusive, transparent, rules-based, multilateral trading system, from which [South] Korea, ASEAN and China have benefited tremendously over the last several decades,” said the former diplomat.

In the joint statement released after the summit, South Korea and ASEAN agreed to their “commitment to support for the enhancement of trade and investment and the resistance to all forms of protectionism in order to improve regional development and prosperity.”

South Korea’s free trade agreement (FTA) with the ASEAN came into force in 2012, with the country already signing separate bilateral FTAs with some of the ASEAN members or pushing for negotiations for new bilateral free trade deals.

Chung said the ASEAN and South Korea had clearly expressed their support for the “expansion of multilateralism and international trade” on several occasions as the multilateral trade system “has benefited so much to all of us.”

“Every country has a common interest in spreading the philosophy of multilateral trade... No country should be an exception,” Chung noted.