South Korea’s Foreign Ministry and the Asia Exchange Association launched a youth exchange program to bring together young people of Korea, the United States and countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to discuss peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region.

According to the ministry, it held the opening ceremony of the Youth Camp for ASEAN and Friends’ Engagement (YCAFE) inviting 43 students of different nationalities, kicking off the five-day camp program in Seoul on Monday.

The participants consist of 15 Koreans, 3 Americans and 25 youth from 10 ASEAN member countries, the ministry said.

During the program, which ends on Friday, the participants engage in discussions and listen to lectures addressing the roles of the youth in handling the challenges of the Indo-Pacific region.

At the end of the program, they are to adopt a declaration statement of “Youth Manifesto for a Peaceful and Prosperous Indo-Pacific.”

It is the first such event hosted by the Foreign Ministry, intended to reinvigorate youth exchanges amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry said.

Ten students from the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), a youth exchange program in Southeast Asia led by the US government, also joined the event to strengthen networking and interactions among the youth of this region.

The ministry said the linkage of the two programs, YCAFE and YSEALI, is meaningful in that it generates synergy among ASEAN youth programs.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)