Opinion - The Korea Times

Korea's Indo-Pacific strategy broadens diplomatic, security, economic horizons

By Song Kyung-jinKorean diplomacy wrapped up 2022 with the announcement of its Indo-Pacific strategy just before the year-end, as promised. I welcome the government's effort and its comprehensive Indo-Pacific strategy. It is a strategy for a free, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region with three overt principles of cooperation ― inclusiveness, trust and reciprocity ― and with nine core lines of effort. Korea's Indo-Pacific reaches out even to the African Indian Ocean, Europe and Latin America, expanding its geographical boundaries further than other countries with their own Indo-Pacific strategies. A free, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region is of particular significance for Korea's national interests, when the region accounts for 62 percent of the world's GDP and 46 percent of global trade and 78 percent and 67 percent of Korea's exports and imports. Hence, not just economic security but also maritime security is critically important for safeguarding and promoting Korea's national interests. On top of that, it to me is a clear sign of confidence of Korea as a nation an

Jan 3, 2023By Song Kyung-jin

Song Kyung-jin

Golden jubilee for closer Korea-India ties

By Song Kyung-jinNext year marks the golden jubilee of Korea-India diplomatic ties. The golden jubilee could be translated into an opportune moment for bilateral relations to be upgraded to the next level with a set of concrete cooperation projects that are more ambitious and action-oriented in regard to cooperation. Korea and India, two thriving democracies in the Indo-Pacific region, are natural partners for many reasons.India's geopolitical and geoeconomic importance is increasing ever more rapidly. India, currently the world's fifth-largest economy, is forecast to be the third-largest by 2050 after China and the United States. South Korea, will be the ninth-largest. Their bilateral trade in the first half of 2022 reached $14.2 billion, the largest volume in the first half ever. It, however, is far below the potential of the two Asian economies. On Nov. 11, President Yoon announced, at the ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, the vision of Korea's Indo-Pacific strategy for “a free, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.” Korea is slated to present its Indo-Pacific strategy to t

Dec 6, 2022By Song Kyung-jin

Song Kyung-jin

Whither Korea's Indo-Pacific strategy?

By Song Kyung-jinOne question I hear more often than others these days, especially from foreign friends in Seoul and abroad, is, “When can we expect the Korean government to officially announce its Indo-Pacific strategy?” I then answer: “As promised.” But in fact, I, too, am curious myself when it will come out. Since President Yoon Suk-yeol announced that he will formulate Korea's own Indo-Pacific strategy framework when he met United States President Joe Biden on May 21, the international community welcomed it and has had high hopes of having it presented to them as soon as possible. Although the Korean government said it would make it available by the end of the year, it seems that the patience of the international community is wearing thin, wishing to know its interim progress, at least in terms of timing and substance, instead of having to keep guessing. One can easily figure out the major difficulties surrounding formulating Korea's Indo-Pacific strategy framework. That is, the United States is its ally and China is its largest trading partner. Hence, Ko

Oct 11, 2022By Song Kyung-jin

Song Kyung-jin

Unilateralism is no answer to friendshoring

By Song Kyung-jinUnilateralism tends to create more problems than solutions. The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a good case in point. Enacted on Aug. 16, the IRA is meant to deal with challenges the U.S. economy is faced with ― to fight high inflation, combat climate change and create a 15 percent minimum corporate tax rate. The causes are noble; however, it is centered on investments and jobs in the U.S. at the expense of its trading partners and friends. Unilateralism imbued in the Act with little concerns for its global impact is hurting carmakers and workers of its friends and partners in global supply chains and the U.S.' global leadership.While there are differing views and estimates, with regards to its possible effect on inflation and confidence of its friends and partners, the U.S. global leadership is undoubtedly likely to weaken further as it stands. The estimated impact does not look big enough to offset the damaged confidence of friends and partners. The Penn Wharton Budget Model at the University of Pennsylvania estimated a low impact on inflation. The U.S. Congr

Sep 13, 2022By Song Kyung-jin

Song Kyung-jin

Korea's renewed pivot to Africa

By Song Kyung-jinAfrica was long known as a continent with rich natural resources and potential but largely underdeveloped and forgotten. It is now striving quickly to transform itself into a continent that will play a bigger role in shaping the future of the international order. It has 54 sovereign states with an equal number of voting power in the United Nations system and major international organizations. It is the second most populous continent after Asia, with 1.4 billion people as of 2021, accounting for about 18 percent of the world's population. Korea, having pledged to become a bridge between developed and developing countries, is well-positioned to support African efforts to stride forward. Substantial progress has been made in the last two decades. Korea and the African Union launched the Korea-Africa Forum in 2006 and held their fifth such forum this past March in Seoul. Now a quarter of Korea's Official Development Assistance (ODA) is allocated for partnerships with Africa, up from 15 percent in 2010. However, the considerable increase in Korea's ODA budget for Africa h

Aug 16, 2022By Song Kyung-jin

Song Kyung-jin

Reminder of president's promise for better gender representation

By Song Kyung-jinOne of my lifelong missions I feel is to continue addressing the perennial gender deficit Korea has been suffering from and thus the importance of promoting gender balance across all walks of life in Korea. The annual Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum (WEF) serves as a regular reminder for me not to forget that mission.The WEF report gives rise, without exception, to an annual contest of pros and cons in Korea about its methodology and the index indicators for being too simplistic, failing to capture the gender reality more broadly. While such arguments deserve due respect, we must not lose sight that we are still lagging far behind our global standings in other indexes.This year Korea ranked 99th out of the 146 countries surveyed, up three notches from 2021. However, a narrowed gap in educational attainment and health and survival has still not translated into a proportionately narrower gap in economic participation and opportunity as well as political empowerment of women. While Korea is the world's 10th-largest economy, in women's economic parti

Jul 26, 2022By Song Kyung-jin

Song Kyung-jin

Global cooperation, skillful leadership needed to address stagflation

By Song Kyung-jin Rising inflation and low growth are portents of stagflation, which the world previously experienced in the 1970s. Protracted "quantitative easing" since the 2008 global financial crisis, disruptions in global supply chains initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic and further exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, and record-high energy prices have all attributed to rising inflation around the world.Whether or not the global economy is heading toward stagflation is not certain, but the possibility of it is growing. Mohamed El-Erian, an Egyptian-American economist, already warned that stagflation is “unavoidable” due to declining growth and rising inflation. Yet there is little room for international policy coordination and cooperation as done immediately after the eruption of the global financial crisis in 2008. The U.S.-China competition and the war in Ukraine stand in the way of mustering the will for global collaboration, which is much needed at the moment.Global "quantitative tightening" is aggressively underway to contain inflation. The Bank of Korea raised it

Jun 22, 2022By Song Kyung-jin

Song Kyung-jin

Yoon-Biden summit, toward Korea becoming global pivotal state

By Song Kyung-jinThe Yoon-Biden summit on May 21 was a success as in the case of most summit meetings. As written in the two leaders' joint statement, it marked the earliest summit meeting in a Korean president's term in office with the U.S. president. Reemphasizing the bilateral alliance as the linchpin for peace and prosperity in the region, the two leaders agreed to upgrade it to a "global comprehensive strategic alliance." The global comprehensive strategic alliance is aimed at upholding the critical importance of values (democracy), prosperity (economy), and technology-based alliance in the rules-based international order. The two presidents agreed on launching bilateral economic and security dialogue headed by respective national security councils. It is with a view to aligning the bureaucratic and policy approaches to supply chain resilience and enhancing the bilateral partnership and research and development on critical and emerging technologies. Such critical technologies include semiconductors, EV batteries, artificial intelligence, quantum technology, biotechnology, aerosp

May 24, 2022By Song Kyung-jin

Song Kyung-jin

Welcoming President-elect's attention to economic security diplomacy

By Song Kyung-jinMany Koreans had a sleepless night on March 9 when the ballot counting was underway until the wee hours of the next day in a very tight presidential race. Yoon Suk-yeol garnered a razor-thin victory over his opponent Lee Jae-myung, who conceded his defeat. It was a scene symbolizing Korea's mature democracy.Yoon was chosen to lead the country at a fragile moment when the country is presented with a myriad of challenges, such as the U.S.-China competition, the Ukraine crisis, the North Korean problem, spiking energy and commodity prices, and an aging population. Rapid changes are being witnessed in the world order whereby economic security is becoming an important part of national security. Trade, technology, data, supply chains, energy and climate are all quickly turning into means of economic security diplomacy. Given this, I welcome President-elect Yoon's emphasis, among other things, on the importance of strengthening economic security diplomacy in his first speech on March 10 in front of reporters. He is right on target, especially when economic security diplomac

Mar 15, 2022By Song Kyung-jin

Song Kyung-jin

New security environment requires gov't to reorganize

By Song Kyung-jinNot just trade but also semiconductors, batteries, artificial intelligence, aerospace, and various climate technologies are increasingly becoming critical strategic factors determining the national security of a country beyond its economic strength. National and corporate investment decisions take into account security elements more than ever before. Economic issues are inextricably intertwined with foreign affairs and security issues.This new national security environment has emerged directly because of the power struggle between the U.S. and China. The U.S.-China competition is being manifested in many realms, including non-conventional ones pertaining to security. It is driving the expansion of a values-based rule of law around the world, putting more emphasis on responses to climate change, human rights and labor standards. A couple of persuasive examples include the European Union proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism expected to take effect in 2026 and the U.S. ban on imports from Xinjiang, China since 2021. Unilateral trade restrictions are often imposed

Feb 8, 2022By Song Kyung-jin

Song Kyung-jin

Read more

Korea's Indo-Pacific strategy broadens diplomatic, security, economic horizons

Golden jubilee for closer Korea-India ties

Whither Korea's Indo-Pacific strategy?

Unilateralism is no answer to friendshoring

Korea's renewed pivot to Africa

Reminder of president's promise for better gender representation

Global cooperation, skillful leadership needed to address stagflation

Yoon-Biden summit, toward Korea becoming global pivotal state

Welcoming President-elect's attention to economic security diplomacy

New security environment requires gov't to reorganize

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