The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs of the Republic of Korea, headed by Minister Chong, Jong-sup, hosted the ASEAN-ROK Ministerial Roundtable and Exhibition on Public Governance as the side events of the 2014 ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit held at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO) on December 11 to 12, 2014.

Under the theme of "Better Governance, Happier Citizens," public administration ministers delivered presentations and had discussions on governance innovation at the Roundtable, and the Exhibition demonstrated the participating countries' vision, strategies, and best practices in good governance.

At the Exhibition, in particular, the President of the Republic of Korea and the other heads of states paid a visit. Over a thousand participants, including government officials, CEOs, and reporters, visited the Exhibition during the summit.

Following the first one in 2009, the commemorative summit was held for the second time; however, it had more implications in that a new platform to discuss public governance was created.

As public governance has emerged as a critical factor to the sustainable development of developing countries, the Roundtable and Exhibition were selected as the official side events of the summit. Many developing countries, including ASEAN members, have shown their interest in learning about Korea's public administration system that pushed the social, economic, and political development of the country within just half a century.

Korea's exports in e-government recorded $4.19 million in 2013, and about 27% of the exports, or $1.14 million, were to Southeast Asia. Also, Korea's rural development program known as the Saemaul Undong, or New Community Movement, was adopted in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

Korea won the global recognition as it ranked first in the United Nations E-Government Survey for three consecutive times in 2010, 2012, and 2014. In addition, Saemaul Undong is hailed as a global poverty-eradication program by the UN as well as President Obama of the United States.

In the Roundtable were three sessions, the topics of which were government innovation, civil service reform, and e-government, respectively. Minister Chong, Jong-sup of Government Administration and Home Affairs delivered a presentation on the vision and strategies of Government 3.0--a new paradigm for government innovation in Korea. ASEAN ministers also took part in the sessions as a presenter or a discussion initiator.

Before the end of each session of the Roundtable, working-level officials of the participating countries delivered lively presentations on their best practices that are implemented on the ground at home, thereby adding a hint of fun to the heavy issues of public governance.

The Exhibition was divided into the Korean Government section, ASEAN section, and ASEAN-Korea Cooperation section. Korean institutions such as the National Computing & Information Agency were introduced, and ASEAN members' government innovation practices as well as Korea's various e-government systems and Saemaul Undong were also presented.

At the Exhibition, interactive demonstrations were available for many exhibition items in order to help visitors better understand how the complicated administration systems actually work.

Those meaningful events served as a valuable opportunity for Korea to introduce its government innovation strategies and advanced public governance systems to the leaders of ASEAN members.

The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs regarded the Roundtable and Exhibition on public governance as a catalyst for practical cooperation in developing public services between Korea and ASEAN members. It expects to raise e-government exports and further spread Saemaul Undong.

Furthermore, as Korea has emerged as a global leader in public governance after hosting the 2014 UN Public Service Forum and taking the first place for the third year in the UN E-Government Survey, Korea's status as a global leader will be further solidified thanks to the ASEAN-ROK Roundtable and Exhibition.

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  Minister Chong, Jong-sup of Government Administration and Home Affairs hosted the ASEAN-ROK Ministerial Roundtable and Exhibition on Public Governance as official side events to the 2014 ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit.

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  Minister Chong, Jong-sup (right) and Minister Yuddy Chrisnandi of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform of the Republic of Indonesia (left) signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the Joint Committee for e-government and administrative reform cooperation.