BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei ― President Park Geun-hye arrived in Brunei Tuesday for multilateral forums with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other regional partners, after her three-day visit to Indonesia focusing on freer trade and investment.

On Wednesday, Park will hold a summit with ASEAN to explore ways to further strengthen the bilateral economic partnership.

ASEAN is South Korea’s second-largest trade partner, largest investment destination and second largest market for the country’s construction industry. Last year, two-way trade volume reached $131 billion.

The regional bloc is also a strategically crucial partner for South Korea as it links the Indo-Pacific region ― one of the world’s most crucial trade and energy seaways.

During the summit with ASEAN, Park is expected to call for support for Seoul’s North Korea policy, which is to build trust with Pyongyang through dialogue while maintaining robust deterrence.

Washington, Beijing and Tokyo have recently increased their diplomatic attention to ASEAN due to its growth potential and geostrategic location.

In particular, the U.S. has been cementing ties with Vietnam, the Philippines and other partners in the region amid its strategic refocus on the Asia-Pacific.

On Thursday, Park will also attend another summit with ASEAN, China and Japan where participants will discuss ways to deepen cooperation in a wide range of areas including politics, security, the economy and culture.

Later in the day, she will join the East Asia Summit that also involves the U.S., Russia, Australia, India and New Zealand.

During her stay in Brunei, Park is also to hold bilateral summits with the leaders of Brunei, Singapore, Australia and Myanmar to bolster cooperation in infrastructure construction, energy and other areas of mutual interest.

By Song Sang-ho, Korea Herald correspondent

(sshluck@heraldcorp.com)