By Lee Kap-soo

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is in Jakarta, Indonesia, for the ASEAN Summit, held his first summit with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sept. 7. The two leaders exchanged views on the development of bilateral relations and ways to strengthen cooperation in the region and international arena.

The President said that Singapore, which has the first and largest record with Korea among ASEAN countries in trade, investment, and infrastructure, will further expand cooperation in key areas of the future such as digital and green technology.

The President also expressed his appreciation for Prime Minister Lee's interest in and cooperation with Korean companies in Singapore. In particular, Yoon requested his support to help Korean companies successfully establish themselves in Singapore, especially in the infrastructure, finance, and electric vehicles sectors, which have seen an upsurge in recent years. 

Lee responded that Singapore will continue to develop mutually beneficial relationship through mutual investment and expansion of business between  companies of two countries.

The President emphasized his government's unwavering commitment to strengthening solidarity and cooperation with ASEAN, and said that the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI) will be faithfully implemented starting this year. Prime Minister Lee welcomed this.

The two leaders also agreed to strengthen cooperation on major regional issues and in the international arena. In particular, on the situation on the Korean Peninsula, the two leaders emphasized that North Korea's repeated so-called "satellite" launches in recent years are a clear violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions, and decided to take a resolute and united response together with the international community.