South Korea's Koo Yun-cheol urges ASEAN+3 cooperation amid Iran war risks
South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol on Sunday, 4 May 2025, called for strengthened regional cooperation to counter growing economic uncertainty stemming from the US-Israeli war against Iran, according to South Korea's Finance Ministry. Koo made the appeal at the 29th ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Key Developments at the Samarkand Meeting
The ASEAN+3 grouping — comprising the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its three Northeast Asian dialogue partners, South Korea, Japan, and China — convened amid heightened geopolitical and economic pressures. Minister Koo stressed that the bloc's cooperative frameworks, historically deployed during regional crises, are now more critical than ever.
