Highlights
- One of the major foreign policy initiatives of President Moon Jae-in of South Korea is the government’s ‘New Southern Policy’, with a goal of deepening ties with South East Asian nations as well as India, and building an inclusive regional architecture in Asia.
- In an interaction with a group of Indian journalists, Choe Wongi, head of the Centre for ASEAN-India Studies at Korea National Diplomatic Academy, said there were similarities “between our approach and that of India towards regional issues”.
Concerns about BRI(Belt and Road Initiative)
- India wants to be more vocal about maritime security in the region, there are increasing activities by China in the Indian Ocean region, There are concerns about the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative).
- South Korea’s main policy objective was not to get subsumed into the U.S.-China rivalry in Asia.
- Proposed for inclusive regional architecture in Asia.
- And added that South Korea, as part of this strategy, wants to build stronger ties with ASEAN and India on multiple fronts — economic, bilateral and strategic. India and South Korea have agreed to boost bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030 from $20 billion now.
- At the diplomatic level, Mr. Choe said Seoul wanted to elevate ties with India to the level of those with four other major powers around the Korean Peninsula — the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.
- Recipient countries should be cautious with China. You can blame China but the recipient countries should also be blamed,” referring to allegations of debt trap , Hyun Oh-Seok, a former Finance Minister of South Korea stated.
- Mr. Hyun, who’s an adviser at the Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Bank, said India has huge potential to play a bigger role in international politics.
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