1. The East Asia Vision Group (EAVG II), comprised of former and current government officials, heads
of think tanks and other experts in East Asian cooperation from the 13 ASEAN+3 countries, will hold its
inaugural meeting in Seoul from October 20 through 22, presided over by Yoon Young-kwan, Korea’s
former Foreign Minister who is currently serving as the country’s head delegate to the Eminent Persons
Group and a professor at Seoul National University.
° The 1st East Asia Vision Group (EAVG I) was operated from 1999 to 2001 by civilian delegates from
the aforementioned countries.
° The 2nd East Asia Vision Group (EAVG II), formed under the agreement reached at the ASEAN+3
Summit held in 2010, will conduct activities until the second half of 2012.
2. Following the proposal for a cooperation blueprint for East Asia toward a “Peaceful, Prosperous
and Progressive East Asian Community” by EAVG I ten years ago, EAVG II intends to closely review
the achievements and objectives of a wide range of cooperation projects conducted by the ASEAN+3
countries, and based on the outcome of the review, lay out a new vision for cooperation in the region.
3. Regional cooperation in East Asia is carried out within the various frameworks of the ASEAN+3, East
Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and APEC. Among these bodies, in particular, the
ASEAN+3 has most actively institutionalized cooperation among the countries in 20-odd sectors, as can
be seen by the Chiang Mai Initiative in the finance sector, since its launch in 1997.
4. In the East Asia Summit, established in 2005 in the format of the ASEAN+3 (Korea, China and
Japan) +3 (Australia, India and New Zealand), the US and Russia has started to participate this year.
Amid such strengthening and diversifying trend of East Asian cooperation, Eminent Persons of the
ASEAN+3 countries will come together to seek a vision for cooperation in East Asia.
Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT
* unofficial translation