Author: ASEAN Tribune

The ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) held its 45th Meeting on 4 October 2023, under the Chairmanship of His Excellency Datuk Seri Haji Mohamad Bin Sabu Minister of Agriculture and Food Security of Malaysia. The Meeting reaffirmed commitments to promoting cooperation in the food, agriculture, and forestry sectors.

Recognising the importance of sustainable agriculture, food security and sustainable forest management, the Meeting emphasised the need for close collaboration to address challenges and seize opportunities in the region.

Source: Association of SouthEast Asian Nation

The Commission on Election (Comelec) in Central Visayas said Friday it is still early to conclude that the shooting dead of a candidate for barangay captain in the hinterland village of Cansomoroy in the western town of Balamban was election-related.Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, Comelec-7 regional director, said Balamban police are still investigating the case.’Too early to tell if it’s election-related. He is a last term councilor who ran as barangay captain in a three-corner fight. It’s a mountain barangay that has no history of election-related violence,’ Castillano told the Philippine News Agency.But the police are not discounting the possibility that the killing of 60-year-old Anastacio Pacquiao was politically motivated, he said.Balamban police chief Lt. Glenn Hife said Pacquiao was shot dead by suspects riding in tandem Thursday in Barangay Prenza.Pacquiao was in his last term as barangay councilman of Cansomoroy, and was running for chairman in the same village.Hife said the victim was riding hi
s motorcycle and was on his way to Poblacion when he was attacked.’We have identified the suspects and the police are now conducting a man-hunt operation. Investigators retrieve CCTV footage in the area plus the eyewitnesses who can positively identify the gunman and the driver of the motorcycle,’ he told reporters.He said CCTV showed that the gunman was not wearing a helmet when he shot Pacquiao.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The Eighth ASEAN – China Ministerial Meeting on SPS Cooperation was held on 6 October 2023. The Meeting was attended by the ASEAN Member States and China as well as the Secretary-General of ASEAN. The Meeting was co-chaired by His Excellency Datuk Seri Haji Mohamad bin Sabu, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Malaysia, and His Excellency Zhao Zenglian, CPC Committee Member of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, Head of the National Office of Port Administration.

The Meeting fully supported the practical implementation of the ASEAN-China Joint Statement on Strengthening Common and Sustainable Development and the ASEAN-China Joint Statement on Food Security Cooperation that were adopted at the 25th ASEAN-China Summit in Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, on 11 November 2022. During the summit, the Leaders of ASEAN and China jointly designated 2023 as the China-ASEAN Year of Agricultural Development and Food Security Cooperation, and agreed to further deepen cooper
ation in the areas of SPS to ensure food security and food safety, animal health and plant health in the region.

Source: Association of SouthEast Asian Nation

Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr Kao Kim Hourn attended the ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this afternoon. The meeting discussed the progress in cooperation on SPS between ASEAN and China to facilitate cross-border trade of food and agricultural products and looked forward to exploring further the application of digital technology for electronic SPS certification and improving data exchanges between ASEAN and China through the ASEAN Single Window (ASW).

Source: Association of SouthEast Asian Nation

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will make a four-nation European trip next week to promote South Korea’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo in the southeastern city of Busan, his office said Friday.

Han will depart for France on Sunday as part of the weeklong trip that also includes stops in Denmark, Croatia and Greece, according to his office.

Han will participate in the Busan Expo Symposium 2023 in Paris on Monday, coinciding with the 50-day mark before the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) selects the host city for the quinquennial global event.

During the symposium, Han will engage with BIE members and promote Busan’s competitiveness in addressing pressing global issues, such as climate change and digital transformation, according to the office.

Han will also meet with his French counterpart, Elisabeth Borne, during his stay in Paris.

Following his time in the French capital, the prime minister will head to Copenhagen on Tuesday for a two-day visit.

During his stay in Denmark, Han will hold ta
lks with his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen, to discuss expanding cooperation between the two countries.

The next leg of Han’s journey will take him to Zagreb, marking the first high-level official visit to Croatia.

Han will hold a summit meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic to discuss collaboration in sectors such as defense and technology, according to the office.

On Thursday, Han will make an official visit to Athens, spanning three days, which also includes a summit with his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The BIE plans to select the host city for the World Expo in late November. The current candidates for the 2030 gathering are Busan, Riyadh of Saudi Arabia and Rome.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

The National Assembly was set to vote Friday on a confirmation motion for Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee Lee Gyun-ryong, with the possibility of rejection looming.

The motion can be rejected if main opposition Democratic Party (DP) lawmakers vote against it during a plenary session set for the afternoon, as the party holds a majority with 168 seats.

If the nomination is rejected, it would mark the first such rejection in 35 years since the 1988 nomination of Chung Ki-seung was voted down. It would take at least about a month for President Yoon Suk Yeol to name a new nominee.

After serving as a judge for about 30 years, Lee was nominated for the top court chief in August to replace Kim Meong-su, whose six-year term ended last month. The court is currently led by an acting chief justice for the first time.

The ruling People Power Party has argued that Lee is fit for the job and is the right person to normalize what it claims is the politicization of the judiciary during Kim’s tenure, citing Kim’s p
rogressive tendencies.

But the DP has opposed Lee, citing several allegations and his alleged personal connections with Yoon.

The DP has also taken issue with Lee’s past rulings, where he reportedly reduced the sentences of offenders of sexual crimes or domestic violence multiple times.

Additionally, Lee also faces accusations of purposefully underreporting assets he and his family owned for many years in the annual asset disclosure of high-ranking government officials while he served as a high court judge.

In a message sent to reporters Thursday, Lee asked for the confirmation of his nomination and requested an opportunity, expressing concern that the Supreme Court’s en banc hearings and rulings will be virtually impossible in case of a leadership vacuum.

Source: Yonhap News Agency