SEOUL, 8 October 2014 – The ASEAN Committee in Seoul (ACS), led by its current chair, Philippine Ambassador to Korea Raul S. Hernandez, hosted a dinner in honor of visiting ASEAN Secretary General Le Lương Minh at the Millennium Hilton Hotel on Wednesday, 8 October 2014.

The ASEAN Secretary General, who was met by all the Seoul-based ASEAN ambassadors comprising the ACS for the first time since assuming his position in January 2013, visited Korea on 7-13 October on the invitation of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs ahead of the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit set to take place in Busan on 11-12 December 2014.

During the dinner at Taipan Cantonese restaurant, the Secretary General briefed the ASEAN ambassadors on the developments in ASEAN-ROK relations, including the logistic and substantive preparations for the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit.

“The ASEAN ambassadors in Korea would like to convey our support for Secretary General Le Luong Minh’s proactive leadership and his generous contributions in promoting ASEAN’s goal of establishing a political cohesive, economically integrated and socially responsible and people-oriented community by 2015,” Ambassador Hernandez said at the start of dinner.

“Rest assured that we are all doing our share in strengthening further the partnership of ASEAN and Korea, and in raising the profile of our organization in the hearts and minds of the Korean people,” Ambassador Hernandez said as he led his counterparts in toasting the guest of honor.

Earlier in the same day, the Secretary-General made a courtesy call on President Park Geun-hye to exchange views on overall ROK-ASEAN relations and discuss how to improve them going forward.

He also met with the First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism to review the preparations for the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit and to discuss matters concerning the ROK-ASEAN cooperation.

In Seoul, he visited the ASEAN-Korea Centre, which is also commemorating its fifth anniversary this year, the Korea-China-Japan Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat and the Secretariat of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization before proceeding to Busan to visit BEXCO, the main venue for the Summit.