What Seoul needs to do to become ASEAN's reliable strategic partner Posted : 2021-01-18 14:35 Updated : 2021-01-18 18:40 This is the last in a series of contributions on prospects of ASEAN-Korea relations in 2021. ― ED. By Choe Won-gi The inception in 2017 of the New Southern Policy (NSP), the signature foreign policy initiative of President Moon Jae-in, has opened a new chapter in Seoul's relations with ASEAN. To date, it remains the most successful and active foreign policy initiative under his administration. While the COVID-19 pandemic posed serious obstacles for implementing the prior pledges of the NSP, Seoul nevertheless came up with a new implementation strategy, "NSP Plus," which modified and updated previous programs of the NSP in order to meet ASEAN's urgent needs to deal with the public health crisis as well as new demands and priorities in the COVID-19 era.