Indonesia pledges closer friendship, stronger partnership with Korea

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and South Korea’s Foreign Minister Park Jin attend a hybrid discussion at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, in Jakarta, Thursday.

Top diplomats from South Korea and Indonesia pledged to forge a closer friendship and stronger partnership during a talk held online and in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday.

The year 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Korea.

Speaking to attendees gathered at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, who attended the event online, called for closer friendship and partnership, including in building a greener and more sustainable economy and promoting peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

South Korea’s foreign minister, Park Jin, also attended the event online.

Park underlined the growing cultural and creative collaboration between the people of the two nations, along with the existing trade and investment cooperation.

Park called on Indonesians and Koreans to unite under the spirit of "gotong royong," a popular Javanese expression meaning "mutual assistance" that signifies Indonesia’s national spirit.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Ambassador to Korea Gandi Sulistiyanto, who is visiting the capital, highlighted trade between Indonesia and Korea that accounted for 4.65 percent of Indonesia’s total trade with the world in 2022.

"Korea had become Indonesia’s seventh-largest trading partner behind China, Japan, the US, Singapore, India and Malaysia," said Sulistiyanto.

Sulistiyanto also presented the Indonesian Embassy’s initiatives to enhance Indonesia-Korea cooperation in creative and digital economy start-ups, including in the fashion, music, movies, culinary, animation, games, and esports subsectors.

A series of activities has been planned to commemorate the 50th anniversary of ties under the theme of "Closer Friendship, Stronger Partnership," the Indonesian Embassy said in a press release.

By Sanjay Kumar(sanjaykumar@heraldcorp.com)