Fifth, Korea should more actively share its development strategy and experience with ASEAN. It is important to be a partner that can help each other and in this sense, Korea should cooperate closely with the ASEAN member states with the capacity building of its

partner and the second largest destination for investment, for ASEAN, Korea is the fifth largest partner for trade and investment, and would be the best partner for technological cooperation amid ASEAN’s current efforts of transforming into a digital economy.

Third, for ASEAN-Korea relations to be long-lasting, it must be mutually beneficial. The economies of ASEAN and Korea are complementary, and they are already partners that need and want each other. For example, while ASEAN is Korea’s second largest trading

In doing so, the following six elements must be considered to make Korea’s vision and strategy more seamless and sustainable. The first element is middle-power diplomacy. Much of the uncertainty in the Asia-Pacific region is in one way or another related to the

prominent academics around the region gathered to discuss the past 50 years and the future of ASEAN-Korea relations, it is about time that Korea developed a more clear and concrete vision and strategy toward ASEAN.

even brighter. Recognizing this, there is no doubt that Korea is gearing up to take the ASEAN-Korea relations to another level. Nevertheless, as pointed out at the International Conference on ASEAN-Korea Partnership held this week, where policymakers and

ASEAN is strategically an important partner, with a population of 640 million people and a gross domestic product of $2.6 trillion (5th largest economy in the world). With the launching of the ASEAN Community at the end of 2015, the prospects for this region are

Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha during the ASEAN-ROK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on the occasion of the 50th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the 24th ASEAN Regional Forum, held in Manila in early August.

Pursuing mutual and sustainable prosperity, increasing people-to-people exchanges, and partnering in building a new East Asia that is peaceful and safe, are the three main directions of the Korean government in strengthening its ties with ASEAN, according to

would bring its relations with ASEAN up to the level of the four major powers -- the US, China, Japan and Russia. While such efforts are on the rise, we may still ask, what is exactly the Korean government’s vision and strategy toward ASEAN?

One sign of hope: Regular citizens coming out by the thousands in Charlottesville for a memorial service recently, and then in Boston to counter a march by hate groups.

The people are leading. It’s time now for the country’s leaders — all of its leaders — to follow them in the same unequivocal denunciation of fascism.

We cannot pretend that these politics are normal, that things are just a little bit out of kilter and will automatically correct. We must speak out. We must assert truth. We must force one another to be honest about the growing threats to our country.

Eighteen months ago, I wrote an opinion piece that warned of Trump’s tendencies toward authoritarianism and fascism. I was told, “Don’t be silly; don’t worry: He can’t win the nomination.”

“Don’t worry: He can’t get elected.”

“Don’t worry: Once he takes office, the weight of the presidency will bring him to

It is this economic injustice — for blacks and whites — that threatens to topple our country into populist authoritarianism, rage, and racist hatred. We must resist the president’s tilt toward fascism. But we must also correct the underlying economic inequity that has fueled the strong response to it.

myself included — enjoys unprecedented levels of economic prosperity. As long as the country is so sharply divided — with 1 percent of the population holding more wealth than the bottom 90-plus percent — the ties that bind all of us to the common good are far too fragile for stability.

America is terribly divided today, and the source of much of it is an economic injustice that has been growing for four decades. Well over half the country lives one paycheck away from some personal disaster that can bring destitution, while a tiny percentage —

Trump told a delegation from that country that he had faced “great pressure” because of the FBI inquiry and that because of his firing of director James Comey, “that’s taken off.”

Still, the most ominous aspect is this: Trump is not a cause; he is a symptom. If he were to leave the presidency, the forces he represents will not be gone.

Among the triggers for this investigation: Trump’s repeated avowals of admiration and support for a ruthless Russian dictator and his disregard for the rule of law in firing the head of the FBI, which had been investigating his connections to Russia.

The president is under a special prosecutor’s investigation into questions of collusion between his campaign and a Russian government committed to disrupting the 2016 presidential election.

ensure that these rights are accorded without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or identity. Those same early leaders enacted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to memorialize our liberties in American life and assert a rule of law that would protect them.