INTERVIEW | Delegates of the USA, Malaysia and South Korea shed light on the discussed frameworks

At the recent ASEAN Foreign Minister Meeting, Cambodia, Malaysia and Brunei have worked together to discuss about several frameworks, such as: “Early Warning System”, Proactive Defence Diplomacy (PDD), ASEAN Mediation Unit (AMU), ASEAN Friendly Meeting (AFM), Bolstering System (BS), ASEAN Representative Body (ARB) , ASEAN Consensus of Justice (ACOJ), ASEAN Security Code of Conduct (ASCOC). 

Zooming into the two frameworks, ACOJ and PDD, how do some countries feel about them? Ministers of USA, South Korea and Malaysia have enlightened The Korea Times about the frameworks and their details. 

USA’s diplomatic trainings 

The USA states that they will be helping ASEAN in training diplomats for ASEAN to be able to partake in more Peace Mediation Processes. They will provide training for the diplomats for the EU and the Malaysia bloc by sending coaches from their side. This will increase participation and involvement in discussions, helping decisions made to be made more inclusively with more voices. 

“To help train ASEAN’s diplomats to be mediators for global peace processes is for the betterment of the entire world. It’s not just for the USA. Who knows? Maybe next time USA is in need of mediators when we get into trouble with other countries. Maybe ASEAN diplomats that we trained before can help us out in the future,” the USA Minister replied when asked how USA will benefit from helping to train diplomats. 

Regarding the Philippines' objection and proposal of deploying a joint task force, the minister of the USA was hit by the realisation that the Philippines’ idea for a joint task force was “not going to get approved.” He had been initially hopeful to fund Philippines’ idea for a joint task force. 

Improvements that Malaysia foresees by agreeing to this ASEAN court of justice framework is that the “(ASEAN) Court of Justice (will) function similarly to the International Court of Justice to deter any country from wrongdoings (going against the code of conduct) in the ASEAN region regardless of whether the country is an ASEAN member state or an external power. (This is) so that countries will be held accountable and be in check, allowing countries to be more likely to follow the Code of Conduct.”

South Korea’s Stance 

South Korea highlights the potential improvement of adherence to the Code of Conduct currently in place. South Korea expresses readiness to take part in this framework due to the alignment of long-term national goals. 

South Korea also believes that the ACOJ will ensure progress and a lower chance of the consensus problem. She acknowledges that ASEAN member states each have their own opinion on issues without third-party intervention. As such, she thinks this framework will be highly effective and supports it. 

Malaysia’s insights 

Malaysia, which has worked closely with the Ministers of Cambodia and Brunei, has also provided its opinions regarding the sustainability of their presented framework. He believes that the extension of the special envoy from one year to three years will help to better manage funding as well as punish those who have breached. In an interview with the Minister of Malaysia, he said that, “…the reason why this framework is sustainable is because we keep in mind that we are supposed to manage our funds and manpower.” 

Adding on, Malaysia’s Minister mentions how “The framework that we have right now is the idea that we are going to form a PDD that is going to work with a troika that has explicit purposes outlined. Along with the fact that it's going to work with a three-year-long special envoy. 

The AMM council displays more readiness in coming to a resolution. Through further discussion, the council hopes to reach a consensus regarding the framework, as well as their draft declaration.

Written by Faith Child, Toh Jia Ying, and Tan Hern Ern Maitri