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| Map of Latin America and the Caribbean / gettyimagesbank |
15 Latin American countries commemorate 60 years of diplomatic ties with Korea
By Kwon Mee-yoo
In 2022, Korea celebrates the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with 15 Latin American countries. Those countries ― Mexico, Nicaragua, Argentina, Colombia, Honduras, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Haiti, Panama, Ecuador, Jamaica and Guatemala ― are becoming increasingly important to Korea's strategy of diversifying diplomacy.
It was in the 1990s that Korea's diplomatic ties and cooperation with Latin American countries began to expand rapidly.
As those countries are trying to recover from the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic, Korea seeks to boost cooperation, especially in the field of digital and green economy.
Strengthening ties with Latin America was included in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' major projects for this year.
"This year, Korea marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations with 15 Latin American nations, which is about half of the countries in the region. The Korean government will organize various events to commemorate the occasion to boost understanding between the people of both countries and continue high-level exchanges," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Korea and Latin American countries both aim for post-COVID-19 recovery and sustainable development, so we could collaborate more in the fields of eco-friendly infrastructure, digitalization, and healthcare," it added.
Son Hye-hyun, a visiting professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, picked the recovery from COVID-19, elections and the rivalry between the United States and China as the three major issues in Latin America.
"Latin America is one of the regions hit hardest by COVID-19, which resulted in lowered projections of economic growth," Son said during a seminar organized by the Center for Korea-Latin America Cooperation under the foreign affairs ministry.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC) forecast that the region's economy will grow only 2.9 percent in 2022 due to COVID-19, following 5.9 percent growth in 2021.
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| Ministers from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras listen to Korean President Moon Jae-in's remarks during their visit to Cheong Wa Dae as part of the 2021 Korea-LAC Digital Cooperation Forum, March 16, 2021. Korea Times file |
Son also noted how the U.S.-China rivalry influences Latin American countries.
"Latin American countries made contracts for a large amount of COVID-19 vaccines with U.S. pharmaceutical companies, but they were distributed quite late, after June last year, which made Latin American countries rely more on the Chinese vaccine. China expanded the influence of vaccine diplomacy to other fields. For example, in Brazil, China gained a spot to bid for the country's 5G network project on the condition of providing vaccines," she said.
"As Latin American countries try to attract more trade and investment to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the countries are expected to take a utilitarian route between the U.S. and China."
Son said Korea could play a role in Latin America as those countries try to diversify diplomacy amid the U.S.-China rivalry.
"Just like Latin American countries, Korea also seeks to find new diplomatic possibilities amid the U.S.-China rivalry and Korea can relate to them in many ways," Son said.
"Latin American countries increased cooperation with China to lower their reliance on the U.S., which resulted in too much reliance on China. Now, most Latin American countries look for more diverse international relations, which could be a good opportunity for Korea to expand its presence in the region."
Park Min-kyoung, a specialist in Latin American economies at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), said the COVID-19 pandemic increased the momentum of the region's digitalization scheme, which opened up new possibilities for Korea, a global leader in digital technologies.
"Digitalization might be an old, repetitive keyword in Korea, but the situation is different in Latin America. Along with the social distancing policies and lockdown, online shopping in Latin America grew explosively starting in 2020," Park said.
"Demand for digital technology is increasing in Latin America in terms of manufacturing as well as other fields. Korea can find ways to advance to Latin America in smart city projects or 5G networks," Park added.
"The distance between Korea and Latin America is reduced as Latin America adopts digitalization, which made Korean startup companies find partners there," Park said.
Park explained that Latin American and Caribbean countries also benefit from nearshoring as COVID-19 reshapes global supply chains. Nearshoring refers to the practice of transferring a business operation to a nearby country instead of a distant one.
"Mexico could be the biggest beneficiary of nearshoring due to its geographic proximity and the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement). Many global companies as well as Korean companies are moving to or expanding their business to Mexico," Park said.
Park emphasized that Korean companies should look for growth together with Latin American partners, instead of just exporting products there.
"Korea has built good relationships with Latin American countries through ODA (official development assistance) and the KSP (Knowledge Sharing Program). We now can establish more economic ties based on those relations," Park said.
