South Korea, Indonesia to co-operate on trade and defence

JAKARTA – South Korea’s President, Moon Jae-in, and Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, have agreed to elevate bi-lateral relations between the two countries to a special strategic partnership, citing their “common aspiration to maintain peace, stability and prosperity across Asia.”

Co-operation will be expanded across four major areas - defence and foreign affairs, bilateral trade and infrastructure development, people-to-people exchanges, and regional and & global co-operation, the leaders said. 

South Korea’s official newsagency reported that South Korean and Indonesia agreed to explore new consultation mechanisms in defence and foreign affairs, and to continue their joint development of next-generation fighter planes. 

They also agreed to their two-way trade volume to US$30 billion annually by 2022.  www.korea.net (ATI).