S. Korea to step up partnerships with ASEAN for IPEF: FM

SEOUL, May 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will deepen partnerships with Southeast Asian nations to tackle common challenges in the Indo-Pacific and cooperate on a new U.S.-led economic framework in the region, Seoul's top diplomat said Friday. In a meeting with 10 ambassadors here from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at his office, Foreign Minister Park Jin said the Yoon Suk-yeol administration plans to strengthen "strategic cooperation" with ASEAN members in such sectors as economy, security, health care and technology. He added Seoul hopes for closer ties with ASEAN with regard to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) launched earlier this week. ejkim@yna.co.kr (END)