South Korea president Moon Jae-in will be arriving in Singapore on Wednesday, July 11, for a three-day state visit.

Singapore is his second and last destination of his diplomatic tour of South and Southeast Asia.

Moon, currently on a state visit to India, is expected to discuss his new foreign policy on Asean and South Asian countries in his meeting with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

"New Southern Policy"

Moon's delegation will focus on promoting the New Southern Policy during the state visit.

Under the policy, Asean countries will be upgraded to the likes of the United States, China, Japan and Russia in terms of ties with South Korea, according to Yonhap News Agency.

South Korea aims to invest in infrastructures in Asean countries and build delivery networks.

The pivot to the south came after China placed economic sanctions on South Korea over the deployment of THAAD. China believes that the anti-missiles system threatens its national security.

In India, South Korea trade minister Kim Hyun-chong said "sensitive issues" undermine economic cooperation.

"India is a country that has no sensitive issues with us historically or geopolitically, so has little risk of its economic cooperation wavering due to external factors. China, for example, created serious problems for our country over the THAAD issue, but with India, there are no such variables," Kim said.

The Korea Times quoted analysts saying that India and Asean are safe trading partners that will upset neither China nor the US.

Asean will also welcome South Korea's closer ties as it tries to gain as many partners as possible to prevent relying too much on a handful of nations, Niang Tuang Nah, research fellow at Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told The Korea Times.

In Singapore, Moon will be accompanied by leaders of South Korea conglomerates like Samsung and LG, according to South Korea's trade promotion agency. But experts say South Korea should also focus on security issues in addition to economic development.

In a Seoul conference before Moon's Singapore trip, experts urged South Korea to bolster cooperation with Asean on ocean and cyber security.

Some on the panel also expressed concern over how South Korea's domestic politics might affect Asean-Korea ties.

"It's important to keep a persistent and coherent policy and strategy toward Asean countries," said Ong Keng Yong, former Asean Secretary-General and Singapore diplomat.

Ong noted that South Korea's Asean policy tend to change during government transitions.

On North Korea

Besides trade, Moon will also give a lecture on Friday. Little information on the lecture has been released save for its theme of "achieving peace and co-prosperity in East Asia".

However, Moon is expected to talk about Asean's role in promoting peace in East Asia and North Korea's efforts to denuclearise.

When asked of North Korea in India, Moon said the developments were "positive", but noted some "difficulties in the dialogue".

His comments came after North Korea criticised United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for his "unilateral and gangster-like demand for denuclearisation" and that the issues pushed by the US were "cancerous".

Moon will return to South Korea on Friday.

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Top image by Jeon Han/Korean Culture and Information Service