BUSAN ― The special summit between South Korea and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations kicks off its two-day run in Busan Thursday as Seoul seeks to bolster its partnership with the geostrategically vital bloc.

Seoul hosted the summit to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of its dialogue relationship with ASEAN, an increasingly crucial group for cooperation in trade, business, culture, tourism, politics and security.

Under the main theme of “Building Trust and Bringing Happiness,” the forum is expected to help the two sides chart a future direction of their evolving relationship. ASEAN is South Korea’s second-largest trading partner and third-largest investment destination. 

“The summit is the venue for us to look back on the 25 years of our friendship and set up a blueprint to enhance our future-oriented relationship,” said President Park Geun-hye in a contribution to media outlets of ASEAN member states.

Hailing the bloc’s plan to launch its economic community next year as a “great feat” from its efforts toward the shared goal of economic development and improved quality of life, Park said she would like to see the spirit of regional integration in Northeast Asia.

Seoul’s stepped-up efforts to deepen ties with ASEAN come as the world powers including the U.S. and China are striving to court the bloc for its great economic and political potential.

ASEAN’s strategic importance of has been growing as it is pushing to launch an economic community next year which will have a population of 640 million and $3 trillion in its gross domestic product.

Through the envisioned community, ASEAN seeks to achieve a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region, a region of equitable economic development, and a region fully integrated into the global economy.

Amid the world’s competition to secure a bigger foothold in the region, Seoul has also been pushing to enhance the bilateral relationship.

The two-way trade volume between South Korea and ASEAN has jumped 16-fold to $135 billion last year from only $8.2 billion in 1989, while the number of visitors between Korea and ASEAN increased 25-fold to 6.5 million from 260,000 during the same period.

“As all the statistics and economic indices suggest, ASEAN is the most dynamic, promising region in the world thanks to its enormous geostrategic values, not to mention its rich natural resources,” said Lee Sun-jin, former career diplomat and political science professor at Sogang University.

“In light of ASEAN’s potentials and global competition to court it, South Korea can’t afford to lag behind.”

Lee added that Southeast Asia has become the center of geostrategic rivalries with the U.S., China and Japan vying to expand their economic, political influence over it, while the geopolitical importance of Northeast Asia has been relatively reduced.

Observers believe that South Korea can become a better strategic partner with the regional bloc given their shared experience as former colonies, and similar diplomatic situations in which they have to remain cautious in handling China and the U.S.

“Some constructivist experts argue that one of the main drivers of ASEAN’s integration was the member states’ shared historical experience as former colonies. In that sense, South Korea can appeal to the bloc better than other countries,” said Kim Tae-hyung, international relations professor at Soongsil University.

Amid the intensifying rivalry between the U.S. and China, ASEAN’s importance has risen.

With its strategic pivot toward the Asia-Pacific, Washington has been pushing to deepen its ties with ASEAN states whose adjacent waters offer the vital sea lanes of communication that are critical for the U.S. to maintain what it calls “global commons,” namely the freedom of navigation and commerce.

Seeking to bolster its sphere of influence and project military power far beyond its coasts, China has been under fire for challenging the global commons by claiming that the areas that maritime trade routes straddle are part of its territory.

Despite the persistent territorial disputes, China has been seeking to improve ties with ASEAN nations by promising huge economic assistances, particularly in the form of infrastructure construction.

ASEAN states appear to be capitalizing on the growing rivalry between the U.S. and China to maximize their national interests ― a reason why these countries are called “swing states” striving to gain economic benefits mostly from China and security support from the U.S.

“The ASEAN states are apparently employing a hedging strategy based on their concerns that the excessive expansion of China’s economic and political influence over them could pose a threat to their security,” said Kim Heung-kyu, political scientist at Ajou University.

“Thus, the ASEAN states seek to maintain relations with both China and the U.S. to cope with the potential risks that may result from relying on only one of them.”

Kim noted that South Korea employs a similar diplomatic strategy ― an aspect that would make the ASEAN think that the two sides are somewhat in the same tricky diplomatic situation, and that they have much to cooperate on.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)