{"id":74513,"date":"2022-08-16T14:45:31","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T04:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=74513"},"modified":"2022-08-16T14:35:43","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T04:35:43","slug":"south-korea-seeks-closer-strategic-links-with-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/south-korea-seeks-closer-strategic-links-with-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea seeks closer strategic links with Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"645\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-74543\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220804adf8654564_4271.t62eb65a9.m2400.xwS5TNnVe6YHITDdA.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220804adf8654564_4271.t62eb65a9.m2400.xwS5TNnVe6YHITDdA.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220804adf8654564_4271.t62eb65a9.m2400.xwS5TNnVe6YHITDdA-205x132.jpg 205w, https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/20220804adf8654564_4271.t62eb65a9.m2400.xwS5TNnVe6YHITDdA-768x495.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Little noticed publicly in either Australia or South Korea, Seoul has taken steps in recent months that suggest intent to forge closer strategic links with Canberra. The trend has accelerated under Korea\u2019s new administration and should be factored in to Australia\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defence.gov.au\/about\/reviews-inquiries\/defence-strategic-review\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">defence strategic review<\/a> as an opportunity to strengthen our regional security and economic relationships.<\/p>\n<p>During the June NATO summit attended by President Yoon Seok-yeol (who met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese), Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/73d0ce63-0b2a-47d7-9d97-9ecf367ef924\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reportedly<\/a> said: \u2018Our priorities in values and national interests are changing\u2019 and \u2018I am not convinced that we are going to be affected much by China\u2019s complaints.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>China\u2019s demands irk Korea. Recognising Chinese power, proximity and major trade and investment interests, Korea will think hard before offending it, evidenced by Yoon\u2014clumsily\u2014not meeting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in person in Seoul following her visit to Taiwan. And Korea will also not formally join the Quad, although Seoul is positive towards both it and possible cooperation with AUKUS.<\/p>\n<p>But China\u2019s recent aggressive military exercising and demands to limit operations of a US THAAD anti-missile battery in Korea (which, on its deployment in 2016, provoked tough Chinese economic sanctions) will strengthen already high levels of anti-China sentiment in Korea. It may lead to toughening of Seoul\u2019s Indo-Pacific policy and greater willingness to engage substantively with Western powers and others concerned by the risks in China\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n<p>Like Australia, Korea faces a darkening geoeconomic and strategic outlook. Policymakers in the new Yoon administration will be weighing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">renewed belligerence by North Korea, with resumption of nuclear testing considered imminent, perhaps aimed at development of tactical nuclear weapons<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sharpened US\u2013China strategic competition, with growing possibilities for miscalculation and pressures on Seoul to abandon its policy of \u2018strategic ambiguity\u2019<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">concerns that any military action in the region will disrupt Korea\u2019s sea lines of communication and could cripple its economy<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">related concerns that a resumption of Chinese economic coercion could include China throttling exports of rare earths and other critical minerals to Korea\u2019s critical semiconductor industry<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fears that America\u2019s (and Europe\u2019s) preoccupation with the Ukraine war will weaken their attention to East Asian challenges, a view given more substance by Washington offering no new market access under its Indo-Pacific Economic Framework<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">widely shared worries about a return of Donald Trump\u2014or a Trumpian figure\u2014to the White House in 2024, again undermining confidence in Korea\u2019s US alliance, and \u2018America first\u2019 policies that weaken the US commitment to a robust Indo-Pacific posture<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Korea\u2019s inability fully to surmount its historical differences with Japan, bolstered by Japanese frustrations with Korean policy, which continues to truncate critical trilateral US\u2013Japan\u2013Korea defence and intelligence cooperation.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In short, Korea, like Japan, feels increasingly vulnerable and faces multiple challenges to its interests. But Korea is not sitting idle. It is building its already significant defence manufacturing industry\u2014now a major export earner\u2014to encompass not only ground force equipment but space, cyber, longer-range ballistic missiles, ballistic missile submarines, drones, fighter aircraft and a light aircraft carrier.<\/p>\n<p>These capabilities help address the growing North Korean nuclear and conventional threat, and in particular respond to the North\u2019s apparent effort to develop a battlefield nuclear weapon, an indication that the North hasn\u2019t given up ambitions to blackmail the South, if not force a reunification on the North\u2019s terms.<\/p>\n<p>And the defence build-up goes well beyond that, enabling Seoul to play a much larger regional security role. The posture involves development of means to project power well beyond the Korean peninsula and to enhance deterrence against a more assertive China, even if the US alliance weakens. Korea has a long historical memory.<\/p>\n<p>So where does Australia fit in? Australia has been a key member of the United Nations Command for Korea since the Korean War, and although this commitment has been small, it has been consistent. After the central US role, Australia\u2019s probably the most significant. It has provided the basis for annual exercising with both countries in South Korea and a window into contingency warfighting and evacuation planning.<\/p>\n<p>Until now, though highly valued by the US, the Australian commitment hasn\u2019t been similarly valued by the myopic Korean military. But, driven by Yoon\u2019s initial foreign policy advisers who have strong links with Australia, and a deteriorating regional and global security outlook, this view may be changing.<\/p>\n<p>Aside from the common interests of the two countries, Korea eyes a potential significant defence market. Korea\u2019s Hanwha Defence is building K9 self-propelled howitzers for the Australian Army in Geelong, and is bidding for the major contract to replace the army\u2019s infantry fighting vehicles with a vehicle designed to meet Australian conditions. If it wins the contract, defence links could become much stronger.<\/p>\n<p>But Korea, short of key resources, is also looking to Australia for secure supplies of hydrogen as it transitions from a fossil-fuel-dependent economy and away from Australian-supplied coal and liquefied natural gas. Australian rare earths and critical minerals will help reduce Korea\u2019s vulnerability if China reimposes economic sanctions on Korea.<\/p>\n<p>Hence outgoing President Moon Jae-in\u2019s unexpected visit to Australia at the end of his term last November to engage potential suppliers and investors, particularly for critical minerals. A big resources trade delegation quickly followed in March, and an Australia\u2013Korea Business Council delegation, focused specifically on these priorities, was welcomed in Korea in June.<\/p>\n<p>In turn, this was followed in July by a visit from Korea\u2019s minister for defence acquisition, Eom Dongwhan, accompanied by a delegation from key defence manufacturers. Only three weeks later, in early August, Korea\u2019s defence minister, Lee Jong-sup, visited both Canberra and Hanwha\u2019s new Geelong plant, meeting with Australia\u2019s defence minister, Richard Marles. These visits came early in the life of both new governments, indicating priority on both sides. The visits were not part of the routine structure of consultations between defence and foreign ministers, suggesting a wish to quickly build stronger defence links\u2014and for Korea to promote its defence exports.<\/p>\n<p>Australia\u2019s defence strategic review should look closely at this pattern. Korea has a sophisticated defence industry, while its strategic priorities align increasingly closely with Australia\u2019s. Until now, the opportunities in this new alignment have largely been overlooked\u2014by both countries\u2014but growing regional tensions suggest a rethink is timely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Little noticed publicly in either Australia or South Korea, Seoul has taken steps in recent months that suggest intent to forge closer strategic links with Canberra. The trend has accelerated under Korea\u2019s new administration and &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1193,"featured_media":74543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17,52,51,211],"class_list":["post-74513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australia","tag-china","tag-defence-cooperation","tag-south-korea"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>South Korea seeks closer strategic links with Australia | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/south-korea-seeks-closer-strategic-links-with-australia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Korea seeks closer strategic links with Australia | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Little noticed publicly in either Australia or South Korea, Seoul has taken steps in recent months that suggest intent to forge closer strategic links with Canberra. 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