I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
Is ISIS a fire seen across river?
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By Kang Hyun-kyung
A stable Middle East is in Korea's interests, says expert
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Saudi ambassador Ahmad Y. Al-Barrak
An old Korean saying, “Onlookers watch houses and buildings on fire across a river,” implies that a crisis need not generate much concern if it seems distant and far removed from everyday lives.
Some observers say that this reflects the point of view held by many Koreans regarding the gruesome acts committed by the Sunni extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), sometimes called Islamic State, in the Middle East.
Despite media reports of brutal murders and threats from ISIS, many Koreans apparently remain unaware of the potential impact that the militant group could have on the Korean economy.
Shin Jae-hyun, an avid watcher of Middle Eastern affairs and a lawyer with the law firm, Kim & Chang, rejects the perspective of the idle “onlookers” and calls for people to maintain watchful eyes on developments in the Middle East.
Shin, also a former ambassador for energy and resources cooperation under the Lee Myung-bak government, says that Korea needs to be concerned because ISIS already controls significant parts of northern Iraq and the western part of war-torn Syria.
“A peaceful, stable and prosperous Middle East is in the best interests of Korea,” he told The Korea Times last week. “The rise of ISIS and the threat it poses to the stability of the region could have a significant impact on the Korean economy.”
Korea imports 80 percent of its crude oil from the Middle East. According to the National Oil Corporation’s data for the period from January to July of this year, Saudi Arabia accounted for 31 percent of the nation’s oil imports. Other major oil suppliers were Kuwait (15 percent), the United Arab Emirates (11 percent), Qatar (10 percent), Iraq (8 percent) and Iran (5 percent).
However, the significance of the Middle East to Korea does not end with oil. Korean companies also depend on the region for business opportunities.
In the first quarter of this year, Korean companies won construction contracts worth a total of $17.6 billion for oil refineries, gas pipelines, degassing stations (facilities that separate oil from gas) and housing projects in the Middle East. The figure accounts for nearly 80 percent of the value of all overseas contracts that Korean companies won during the same timeframe.
In January, a Korean consortium formed by SK and GS won a $6.04 billion project to build an oil refinery in Karbala, Iraq. Nearly 1,000 Koreans are working with 12 Korean companies in the Baghdad and Basra areas to rebuild the war-torn nation.
The threat from ISIS, which has expressed its desire to establish a caliphate — that is, a state led by Muslim religious authorities — and which has continually striven to gain control of new territory, has raised concerns not only about the safety of Korean nationals in the region but also about Korea’s vital economic interests there.
Iraqi Ambassador to Korea Khalil Al-Mosawi, however, was optimistic about the global coalition’s efforts to tackle ISIS, and said that Korean nationals and Korea’s economic interests there would remain safe.
“All those Koreans are in a safe area, as they are mostly based in Baghdad in the south of Iraq,” he said. “Baghdad is heavily defended.”
ISIS is losing ground to Iraq’s armed forces, the ambassador added. “Now with assistance from the United States, the situation in Iraq will be improved a lot,” he said. “No worries.”
On Thursday (Seoul time), President Barack Obama outlined the U.S. strategy to fight ISIS, highlighting targeted airstrikes in Syria to hunt down the group, which has beheaded two American journalists within the past month.
President Obama indicated that no U.S. soldiers would be sent to carry out ground missions in Iraq, but vowed to enlist other countries in a U.S.-led global coalition to demolish ISIS.
Some analysts, however, cautiously raised the possibility that U.S. intervention might help ISIS rally support. In a Foreign Affairs article published in August, Barak Mendelsohn, an associate professor of political science at Haverford College, said the militant group might take advantage of the U.S. intervention by recasting it as a war against Islam.
“If the United States decided to step in on behalf of its allies, then ISIS must have believed that it would be able to strengthen its position within the jihadi camp,” he wrote. “ISIS could use the bombings as evidence that the United States is waging a war on Islam and to portray itself as the defender of Muslims from Crusader aggression.”
Spillover effect?
The impact of ISIS on the Korean economy is likely to become evident if the global coalition’s efforts do not bear fruit.
In an op-ed piece published in The New York Times, two Saudi experts, Nawaf Obaid and Saud al-Sarhan, express the view that Saudi Arabia is not the source of ISIS but its main target.
“ISIS has even launched a campaign against Saudi Arabia, called qadimun, or ‘we are coming’ to take over the country,” they write.
The two experts observe that Saudi Arabia is “the epicenter of Islam”and therefore, any caliphate would have to encompass the country. They stress, however, that Saudi Arabia has the power to defeat ISIS with the help of its international partners.
Given that Saudi Arabia is Korea’s main crude oil supplier and its partner in a number of lucrative infrastructure projects, the presence of ISIS there could have a considerable negative impact on the Korean economy.
Saudi Ambassador to Korea Ahmad Y. Al-Barrak said his country stood firm against ISIS and was fully prepared to tackle the group.
“[Saudi Arabia] has assured that terrorism in its various forms and contents is one of the most serious threats to international peace and security and any acts of terrorism ... cannot be justified,” he said. “Saudi Arabia has called on the need to hold accountable those who have committed or were responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law.”
Quoting King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz’s remarks on Aug. 2, Ambassador Al-Barrak criticized ISIS for victimizing innocent civilians in the name of Islam and consequently tarnishing the image of Islam.
“It is a shame and disgrace that such terrorists are carrying out their activities in the name of religion, killing innocents, mutilation of corpses, boasts of airing them on media,” he quoted King Abdullah as saying. “Such acts, forbidden by God, are done in the name of religion.”
The envoy said Saudi Arabia had been working closely with other Gulf states, and with the United States to tackle ISIS, as well as with Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.
Regarding policy options, Shin said that Korea, as a middle power, was not in a position to exert much influence regarding ISIS on the global stage.
But he said Korean policymakers should pay close attention, and should be prepared to cooperate with the international community if asked to join the global coalition against ISIS to make sure that Korea’s vital interests were protected.
During a regular press briefing on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il said the Korean government fully supported the U.S.-led international efforts to counter ISIS.
“Earlier, Korea pledged to provide humanitarian assistance (to the northern part of Iraq) worth $1.2 million and this came in the context of our government’s support for the international community,” he told reporters.