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The geopolitics of this region have tossed smaller nations' foreign policy formulations toward the U.S. or China, at the cost of a blind spot or deferring relations with other countries.
Under then President Moon Jae-in's New Northern Policy, South Korea's unprecedented outreach to North Korea and China, with a focus on improving relations and even unification with North Korea and heavy tilt toward China, was a gross contradiction of strategic interests between not only South Korea and U.S., but also South Korea's relations with Japan and India.
Moon's foreign policy focus on North Korea has shown little interest in actual disarmament and denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. The intense commitment toward normalization with North Korea and China over the first two years relegated the focus of other major powers, but drew situations that showed Moon's skewed approaches toward the desired objectives.
With Yoon Suk-Yeol from the conservative People Power Party (PPP) taking over as the new president of South Korea on May 10, fundamental changes in South Korea's foreign and security policies are widely expected. Yoon has been described as a political maverick unbeholden to political bosses and factions.
Under his leadership, developing closer ties with the Indo-Pacific region is expected to be a priority area of the new administration. Gone are the days when the South Korean government was heavily focused on developing closer ties with North Korea and China.
A long-time U.S. treaty ally and a rising power, a global economic dynamo with leading state-of-the-art military systems and advanced technologies, South Korea is set to emerge from being a geopolitical anomaly, largely marginal in shaping the geopolitical landscape in its own Asian neighborhood, to a global player.
Describing his country as a "global pivotal state," Yoon has vowed to help like-minded powers, especially the U.S., jointly advance "freedom, peace, and prosperity through liberal democratic values and substantial cooperation."
Bilateral partnership
India and South Korea have emerged almost simultaneously as politically and militarily strong nations that can add immensely to stability and peace in the region.
With India positioned as a strong emerging power with its new leadership and a foreign policy that has proven its outreach and impact in face of multiple and extremely complex challenges to its security and national strategy vis-a vis China, India's leadership could work with Yoon's call to reset South Korea's place in the broader Indo-Pacific and India's geopolitical landscape.
While the transformation of the Asia-Pacific concept to an Indo-Pacific framework clearly reflected India's position as a powerful core dynamic toward an effective security strategy in the Indo-Pacific region, India and South Korea can add immensely to strengthen the Indo-Pacific region and the Quad.
South Korea can best relate to China becoming a serious challenge for India, by its posturing dangerously and in full combat mode, attempting to resolve its boundary dispute in its own characteristic way of altering geography and history. The standoff between India and China on the Leh border and China's forward posturing and intensifying buildup to near conflict readiness on either side is indeed worrisome.
Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has echoed a similar statement, arguing, "India's approach should be guided by our national beliefs and values, by our national interest, and by our national strategy." India and South Korea could now push to integrate India's "Act East" strategy, and the ROK (Republic of Korea) Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative (NAPCI) to bringing peace, stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region.
Defense industrial cooperation
South Korea's rapid emergence as a defense and strategic partner among Asian countries, exporting defense equipment such as submarines and combat aircraft to Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, including a variant of the FA-50 fighter jet and T-50 to the Philippines, open avenues of joining India in its defense industrialization and self-reliance.
The Indian government is working on setting up two defense industrial corridors in the country, one in Uttar Pradesh and another in Tamil Nadu, with an aim to ensure connectivity among various defense industrial units. It is expected to open up many new opportunities in defense collaborations with South Korea.
South Korean exports of Hanwha's K9 self-propelled artillery to NATO nations including Estonia, Finland, Norway, Poland and Turkey, as well as Australia and India, the KF-21, Boramae Fighter under evolution and for exports, will mark a historic chapter in their aviation industry.
Space cooperation
The Indian Space Research Organization and the (South) Korea Aerospace Research Institute allow both sides to explore commercial opportunities with each other, deep space cross tracking and communication support for South Korean and Indian deep space missions; sharing of data of lunar surface and radiation data collected by Chandrayan1, and collaboration in GAGAN-KASS interoperability and sharing experience in GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation system) and KASS (Korea Augmentation Satellite System). This program is likely to take off soon.
Building credible deterrence
The war in Ukraine reflects the world facing a Eurasian threat belt that includes China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. Each poses different risks and military challenges. North Korea's accelerating nuclear weapons and ballistic missile capabilities require a regional resetting of countermeasures and North Korea policy.
While the need for a strong trilateral security and defense cooperation between the United States, South Korea, and Japan is being considered as a key step, India and South Korea could lead and formulate a multilateral strategic partnership with Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam, and willing members of ASEAN, toward a credible deterrence.
From South Korea's New Asia Initiative of 2003 through then President Moon's New Southern Policy and India's very significant Act East Policy, relations between India and South Korea have evolved into a very special strategic partnership.
India and South Korea's strategic partnership may be at a point of creating a new dynamic, continuously adding new elements in ever growing multilateral strategic partnerships to ensure not only a free Indo-Pacific but also enabling focus on larger challenges in the region.
Lt. Gen. Arvinder Singh Lamba, Ph.D., former vice chief of army staff, Indian Army, is a well-known analyst in strategic affairs, security strategy, military diplomacy and international relations. The views expressed in the above article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.
