South Korea’s new vision looks south

TWO weeks after his inauguration, President Moon Jae-in unprecedentedly sent a special envoy to countries that represent Asean. He also announced that his Government would bring its relations with Asean up to the level of the major powers – the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

While such efforts are on the rise, what is exactly the South Korean government’s vision and strategy toward Asean?

Pursuing mutual and sustainable prosperity, increasing people-to-people exchanges, and partnering in building a new East Asia that is peaceful, are the three main directions of the South Korean government in strengthening its ties with Asean, said South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha during the Asean-South Korea Foreign Ministers Meeting held in Manila in August.

Asean is an important partner, with a population of 640 million people and a Gross Domestic Product of US$2.6 trillion (fifth largest economy in the world). With the launching of the Asean Community in 2015, the prospects for this region are even brighter.

There is no doubt that South Korea is gearing up to take Asean-Korea relations to another level. Nevertheless, as pointed out at the International Conference on Asean-South Korea Partnership, where policymakers and academics around the region gathered to discuss the past 50 years and the future of Asean-Korea relations, it is about time that South Korea developed a more concrete vision toward Asean.

Six elements must be considered to make this vision more seamless and sustainable.

The first is middle-power diplomacy. Much of the uncertainty in Asia-Pacific is in one way or another related to the rivalry among the major powers. In this environment, countries that do not have any hegemonic ambitions or hidden agendas like Asean and South Korea could forge a genuine partnership and play a stabilising role in the region.

The Asean-South Korea partnership must be one that does not seek immediate profits, but one where the two sides would reinforce each other, pursuing mutual interests and addressing common transboundary issues.

The second element is intertwined with security, in that peace and stability in South-East Asia and North-East Asia, including the Korean Peninsula, is very much interconnected. For peace in East Asia, Asean and South Korea need to work together on both traditional and non-traditional security issues.

Third, for Asean-South Korea relations to be long-lasting, it must be mutually beneficial. The economies of Asean and South Korea are complementary, and they are already partners that need and want each other.

Fourth, Asean and South Korea have shared values and similar culture. Such commonalities allow the peoples of Asean and South Korea to engage in people-to-people exchange at a deeper level. Mutual understanding and trust is at the foundation of closer economic and political-security ties.

Fifth, South Korea should more actively share its development strategy and experience with Asean. It is important to be a partner that can help each other and in this sense, South Korea should cooperate closely with Asean member states with the capacity building of its human resources in particular, amid the gradual shift of Asean’s priorities to knowledge-based and high value-added industries. — The Korea Herald/Asia News Network