S. Korea to hold summit with ASEAN countries next year

SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to hold a group summit with Southeast Asian nations next year to discuss ways of promoting ties between them, diplomats here said Monday.

"We have reached an agreement on holding the summit in South Korea in June next
year," Kim Young-chae, director of the Foreign Ministry's Southeast Asian
department said. "The countries will discuss related details including a host
city and exact date."
Next year marks the launch of "formal dialogue" between South Korea and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and
Vietnam.
The summit was proposed in a foreign ministerial meeting held on the sidelines of
the ASEAN Regional Forum in July in Singapore. South Korea takes part in the
annual security forum, along with other regional powers including the U.S.,
China, Japan, and Russia.