In a commentary, RSIS experts Shawn Ho and Kaewkamol Pitakdumrongkit wrote about how the two recent summits between South Korea and Asean members, held against the backdrop of South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s New Southern Policy (NSP), underline the growing importance South Korea attaches to the South-east Asian grouping. They added that with the focus of the NSP on the Mekong sub-region, the region might become synonymous with prosperity and peace 30 years from now, at the 60th-anniversary juncture of Asean-South Korea relations.