President Lee: "Goal is to incorporate forward-looking trade rules into Korea-ASEAN FTA"

Lee Gives Written Interview to Philippine Media Outlet
Highlights Response to Transnational Crime as an Example of Cooperation

President Lee Jae Myung said the goal of talks to upgrade the Korea-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is to "incorporate forward-looking trade rules into the agreement."

In a written interview with the Philippine newspaper The Philippine Star, published that day, Lee said, "Korea supports regional economic integration to promote ASEAN's future growth and innovation." The interview took place ahead of Lee's visit to the Philippines to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit.

President Lee Jaemyung and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos shake hands ahead of their summit at Malacanang Palace in Manila, Philippines, on March 3, 2026. Yonhap News Agency

Lee emphasized the importance of strengthening ties between Korea and ASEAN. "Thanks to ASEAN, Korea's potential has expanded and its exchanges with the world have increased," he said. "ASEAN is Korea's second-largest trading and investment partner, and people-to-people exchanges between Korea and ASEAN total 12 million annually."

As a key example of Korea-ASEAN cooperation, he cited efforts to strengthen investigative cooperation between the Korean National Police Agency and ASEANAPOL, the ASEAN Chiefs of Police conference. Lee said this cooperation is part of efforts to combat transnational crimes such as online scams, and that a response is needed to ensure economic and people-to-people exchanges lead to cooperation and shared prosperity.

"In the medium to long term, this could develop into a forum for security cooperation that also includes ASEAN's other dialogue partners," he said. He added, "President Marcos has also emphasized that transnational threats have no borders and that our responses should have no borders either. I fully agree."

Lee also proposed strengthening defense cooperation between Korea and the Philippines. "Bridges built by Korean companies connect the islands of the Philippines, and ships built by Korean companies at the Subic shipyard will sail the oceans and serve as bridges connecting the Philippines with the world," he said. "Our cooperation does not stop there; we are expanding it into new fields such as artificial intelligence, space, nuclear power, and critical minerals."

"The Philippines also has ample potential to develop a defense industry suited to its geographic and security characteristics," he said. "The country's unique security environment, which requires it to defend vast maritime areas and island regions, provides an important foundation for shaping the Philippines' distinct defense industry needs and development priorities."

He added, "I believe there are many areas where the Philippines and Korea can combine their respective strengths and cooperate. We can broaden the scope of our cooperation beyond simply supplying weapons systems to include technology cooperation, joint production, maintenance and repair, and the training of specialized personnel."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.