Expansion of Industrial Cooperation between Korea and ASEAN in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

The new winds of the fourth Industrial Revolution are blowing through the ASEAN economies. ASEAN’s economic development is largely attributed to an abundant low wage labor force, as many of the organization’s partner states have depended entirely on foreign investments to obtain capital and technology necessary for economic growth. Many experts point out that most of Southeast Asian countries will need a lot of time and investment to embrace the innovative technologies of the fourth Industrial Revolution. There are also those who worry that some of ASEAN member states will lose competitiveness in the global economy unless they mor fully take advantage of their low-wage labor force. In the ASEAN Regional Meeting of the World Economic Forum held in Vietnam in the fall of 2018, the ASEAN leaders, ministers and businessmen discussed the possibility of the fourth Industrial Revolution. They concluded that a new pan-Asian offshoot, the ‘ASEAN Economic Community’ should actively respond to the fourth Industrial Revolution in becoming a more unitary ‘One Asia’. But why should ASEAN countries actively prepare for the technological transformation given their poor information and telecommunication environments? In answering the above question, this paper will explain the fourth Industrial Revolution policies being carried out by ASEAN countries. It will present the new ways to enlarge and strengthen the industrial cooperation between Korea and ASEAN states in regards to upcoming technological changes.