Seoul to launch task force for diplomatic campaign on Asia

SEOUL, June 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will soon launch a government committee
headed by its foreign minister, tasked with strengthening its relations with
Asian countries under a new diplomatic campaign called the "New Asia Initiative,"
Seoul's presidential office said Friday.
The new committee could be launched as early as next month, according to the
presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
"The committee or the task force will be headed by the foreign minister and
include vice ministers of all related ministries," Kim Jae-shin, senior aide to
the president for foreign affairs, told reporters.
The move reinforces Seoul's new regional diplomatic initiative, announced by
President Lee Myung-bak in March while visiting Jakarta.
Under the initiative, Seoul would expand the focus of its diplomatic efforts from
major powers, such as the United States, Japan and China, to its neighbors in
Asia, and promote the countries' mutual interests in the international community.
"The trend is already setting in...but there will be more economic blocs in the
future and regional cooperation could become much more important," Kim said of
reason for the new diplomatic campaign.
"The country will also strengthen its summit diplomacy in Asia," he said.
The South Korean president held a special summit with leaders of the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the southern resort island of
Jeju earlier in the week.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)





Delete &