Attendees discuss the ASEAN-South Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in a session at the 21st Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity on Jeju Island on Friday. (Sanjay Kumar/The Korea Herald) SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island — Southeast Asian diplomats on Friday said South Korea's partnership with ASEAN should evolve beyond the view of the region primarily as a manufacturing base.Speaking at the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity, the diplomats called for greater emphasis on higher-quality investment, innovation and tangible outcomes under their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership."Economic cooperation should move beyond the view of Southeast Asia as a production base, and instead develop into a more equal partnership based on higher-quality investment, mutual respect and shared benefits," Vietnam's Ambassador to South Korea Vu Ho said.Ho said the challenge was no longer whether ASEAN and South Korea should cooperate but how they can deliver on commitments while strengthening dialogue, maritime security and respect for international law.South Korea, for its part, outlined a roadmap aimed at turning the CSP into measurable results.Ha Dae-goog, director of the ASEAN Cooperation Division at South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Seoul's roadmap, built around 36 action items, seeks to expand people-to-people exchanges and trade while strengthening cooperation in AI, digital governance, cybersecurity, maritime security and law enforcement.Responding to a question from The Korea Herald about the progress since the CSP vision was unveiled, Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Bernadette Therese C. Fernandez said its implementation was already gaining momentum."The ASEAN Secretariat has noted that we have already achieved 22.8 percent of the implementation of the Plan of Action, which is well aligned with the CSP vision," Fernandez said.She said this year's Philippine chairmanship of ASEAN provides an opportunity to align the bloc's priorities with the CSP."Our theme this year is 'Navigating Our Future Together.' It complements the CSP vision through our pillars of peace and security, prosperity and people empowerment," she said.Fernandez added that many of the 36 priority projects could be completed well before the 2030 target, allowing ASEAN and South Korea to launch new initiatives as cooperation expands.Asked about the CSP vision's tangible outcomes, Ho pointed to the rapidly rising tourism between Vietnam and South Korea."A total of 4.5 million Koreans visited Vietnam in 2025 alone. In just the first six months of 2026, the figure has already reached four million. That alone says a great deal," he said.The session underscored that ASEAN-Korea relations have entered a new phase, with the focus shifting from upgrading ties to implementing the CSP through concrete cooperation under the 2026-2030 Plan of Action.Meanwhile, Timor-Leste's accession was seen as opening new opportunities for regional collaboration.Timor-Leste Vice Foreign Minister Jesuina Maria Ferreira Gomes described the country's accession as "a historic milestone" and called for stronger cooperation with South Korea in education, vocational training, digital transformation, infrastructure and institutional capacity-building to support its integration into the regional bloc.Meanwhile, former Kyoto University professor Mieno Fumiharu said economic cooperation would remain the foundation of ASEAN-Korea relations but argued that the next stage of the partnership should place greater emphasis on joint research, scientific collaboration and innovation.Rather than viewing ASEAN primarily as a manufacturing platform, he said, South Korea should treat the region as a partner in co-creating new technologies, boosting research capacity and driving innovation — an approach that would better reflect ASEAN's growing economic and technological capabilities.