JEJU, SOUTH KOREA (Dow Jones)--South Korea will look into investing more actively in the field of resources, Korea's Minister of Knowledge Economy Lee Youn-ho said Sunday, as business leaders from Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, pledge to strengthen cooperation.

The state-run Korea National Oil Corp. will discuss cooperation in the development of oil fields during the two-day Asean-Korea CEO Summit, Lee said in a news briefing following the opening of the summit in Jeju.

The summit, attended by 400 businessmen from South Korea and 300 from Asean, is being held in conjunction with the two-day Asean-Korea Commemorative Summit, which starts Monday and is participated in by 11 leaders from the region.

Business executives from Asean take on a greater role in the region's coordinated initiatives to deal with the global financial crisis.

"The problems and challenges we face today require concerted regional efforts. Regional cooperation and integration are no longer a luxury, but a necessity," Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in a keynote speech.

Asean - dominated by export-oriented economies - is currently suffering the impact of the crisis, and economic prospects remain broadly negative despite signs of improvement.

Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Asean is Korea's third-largest trading partner and the second-biggest overseas investment place.

-By Ditas Lopez and Kanga Kong, Dow Jones Newswires; 822-2198-2230; kanga.kong@dowjones.com

Source:The Wall Street Journal