浪花直播

The year 2024 will mark the 35th anniversary of South Korea鈥檚 diplomatic relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), representing a long and diverse relationship between the two. Highlighting this relationship, President Yoon Seok Yeol introduced South Korea鈥檚 new ASEAN policy,  at the Korea-ASEAN Summit in Cambodia in November 2022. Recently, South Korea has  the centrality of ASEAN in South Korea's Indo-Pacific Strategy and expressed its commitment to supporting ASEAN's perspective on the Indo-Pacific region.

Moreover, the announcement of the KASI policy indicates South Korea鈥檚 intention to maintain its cooperative approach with ASEAN, with the South Korean President Yoon proposing to double the cooperation fund for ASEAN over the next five years, aiming to elevate the Korea-ASEAN relationship to a  in commemoration of the South Korea-ASEAN anniversary of diplomatic relations later this year.

Interestingly, the most recent proposal鈥攁imed at expanding strategic and security cooperation鈥攑resents both a change from South Korea鈥檚 historic engagement in the Southeast Asian region and new opportunities for the relationship overall.

South Korea鈥檚 Foreign Policy towards Southeast Asia in 21st century

Historically, South Korea鈥檚 foreign policy towards Southeast Asia fluctuated greatly, often placing emphasis on the Korean Peninsula and the North Korean security issue, rather than focusing on a well-defined policy vis-脿-vis the Southeast Asia region.

In the early 2000s, former ROK President Kim Dae-jung, well-known as a  winner of the  winner for his famous Sunshine Policy towards North Korea, demonstrated an active interest in cooperation between the Northeast and Southeast Asian regions. At the time then-President Kim not only designed the  but also suggested the idea of an . However, South Korean policy changed under the next President Roh Moo-hyun administration鈥檚 , which focused on the Korean Peninsula and the Northeast region, without special consideration for a broader East Asia and by extension ASEAN.[1]

Later, during the Lee Myung-bak administration, the declaration of  policy once again expanded South Korea鈥檚 diplomatic reach beyond Northeast Asia. However, the security focus remained on the Korean Peninsula and the U.S.-ROK alliance. Although South Korea attempted to influence multilateral platforms such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), there was criticism that ROK policy disregarded the unique diplomatic style of ASEAN countries鈥� ASEAN Way.[2] Park Geun-hye's Trustpolitik aimed to build trust with neighboring countries and gained descriptions than previous government in ARF statements, while the Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative and Eurasia Initiative showed the limitation in incorporating Southeast Asia.

Finally, Moon Jae-in administration鈥檚 was the first region-specific foreign policy towards Southeast Asia and has been welcomed for its regional approach. However, some critics  that the policy overlooked security agendas to maintain strategic ambiguity and placed too much emphasis on economic cooperation with specific countries, such as Vietnam and Singapore.

The Significance of Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative and Prospective Steps for Advancement

Against this backdrop, South Korea鈥檚 newest policy agenda offers improved opportunities. Firstly, the KASI policy has the potential to overcome the frequent shifts in diplomatic policy due to changes in government and provide assurance of South Korea's continuous cooperation with ASEAN. Secondly, it may resolve criticism that previous policies faced by focusing less on economic, cultural, and social cooperation, and more on expanding the scope of security issues beyond Northeast Asia. Finally, South Korea, by reaffirms its commitments to Southeast Asia, strengthens its role as a middle power in the Indo-Pacific region through proactive and diverse cooperation.

However, there are still many challenges. First, South Korea鈥檚 strategic neutrality vis-脿-vis China has noticably changed in recent years. Today South Korea鈥檚  and enhanced cooperation with Washington may cause ASEAN to lose its neutrality should the relationship between Korea and Southeast Asia expand. Additionally, Korea鈥檚 lack of network centrality on the East Asia political network may also become an obstacle.

Given this complex situation, in order for the most recent Southeast Asia-focused policy to be successful, South Korea should first and foremost be weary of imposing its diplomatic stance on each country for short-term results, demonstrate its long-term willingness to act as a "global" pivotal state.

By strengthening its engagement with each country in Southeast Asia respectively, South Korea may be able to utilize its unique role within the region as a mediator to resolve the tensions between the players.

Second, it is necessary for South Korea to strengthen its network centrality by deepening country-to-country exchange. So far, Korea has focused its relations on  for economic reasons. By strengthening its engagement with each country in Southeast Asia respectively, South Korea may be able to utilize its unique role within the region as a mediator to resolve the tensions between the players.

Lastly, to ensure long-term policy consistency, South Korea will need to build domestic consensus on its foreign policy. The KASI policy depends mainly on Korean government expenditures, such as  and allocating $200 million for ASEAN-ROK cooperation projects. If South Korea鈥檚 domestic economy continues to worsen, public support for foreign policy initiatives could weaken greatly. 

Conclusion

Historically, South Korea鈥檚 security cooperation with Southeast Asian countries has not been considered as an important part of Korea's overall foreign diplomatic strategy. While limitations exist in terms of experience and scale, now may be a pivotal time for South Korea to leverage its advantages in geographical proximity and unique historical position towards Southeast Asia. As South Korea continues to respect ASEAN's centrality and neutrality, deepen cooperation with individual countries and implement its policies, the trust toward South Korea will also be enhanced, contributing to the sustainable peace of the Indo-Pacific region.

[1] Yang-Hee Kim. 鈥淎n Assessment on the Northeast Asian Cooperation Initiative of the Rho Moo-Hyun Administrative.鈥� Journal of Korean Social Trend and Perspective, no.74 (2008): 44-80.

[2] Chang Ku Byun. 鈥淟ee Myung-bak Government鈥檚 Multilateral Security Diplomacy and ASEAN Regional Forum.鈥� Journal of Northeast Asian Studies, no. 67 (2013): 5-20.

This blog post is part of an ongoing NextGen series for the Korea Foundation Junior Scholar program. This series is made possible thanks to the generous support from the Korea Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are the views of the author(s). For questions/comments, please contact coordinating staff at Korea.Center@wilsoncenter.org.