In October, South Korea held its first unified diplomatic initiative aimed at advancing ties with India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
This initiative is known as the New Southern Policy (NSP) which seeks to elevate the level of partnership among Korea, ASEAN, and India to the same level it keeps with its four major partners (US, China, Japan, and Russia).
New Southern Policy (NSP)
NSP plans to expand the relationship to exchanges in technologies, arts, and human resources. Its core values are people, peace, and prosperity (3P).
The partner countries of the NSP are the10 ASEAN countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and India.
New Northern Policy (NNP)
NNP aims to strengthen economic ties with countries across Northeast Asia and Eurasia with region-specific projects. Its goal is to bind the region as an economic community of peace and prosperity.
The partner countries of the New Northern Policy are; Russia, Moldova, Mongolia, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Georgia, the three Northeast provinces of China (Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
The Benefits
The trade volume between Korea and ASEAN members in 2018 was 159.7 billion USD, making them Korea’s second-largest trade partner, while the trade volume between Korea and India in 2018 was 21 billion USD, making India the 11th largest trader to Korea.
The New Southern policy will not only boost the existing economic partnership but also help establish lasting peace in the region.
All of the NSP partner countries have diplomatic ties with both the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The Northern partners have a high potential for economic growth such as a large population and bounty of natural resources as cooperation with Korea would generate synergy because of the country's advanced industries and high demand for energy.
The Main Goals
The NSP aims to build the ground for a mutually beneficial and future-oriented economic partnership, while the NNP seeks to generate synergy by connecting transportation, logistics, and energy infrastructure among Eurasian countries for economic growth.
What Happened So Far?
From 2017 to 2019, President Moon Jae-in visited all 10 ASEAN countries and India. He was the first Korean President to visit them all within the presidential term.
In Nov. 2019, Korea hosted the third ASEAN_ROK Commemorative summit and the first Mekong_ROK summit in Busan. Here, the leaders all supported the vision of the New Southern Policy and agreed on further cooperation not only for economic benefit but also for human exchange and international security.
Recent Achievements
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), an FTA of 15 countries – Korea, the 10 ASEAN members, Japan, China, Australia, and New Zealand – officially formed on Nov. 15, 2020.
The RCEP is the world’s largest trading bloc which covers approximately a third of the world’s population, trade volume, and GDP, which is bigger than NAFTA and the EU.
Are There Any Region-specific Projects?
The partner countries for the New Northern Policy can be pided into groups depending on the industry and economic characteristics.
Among the nearby Eastern partners such as Russia and China, electricity, gas pipes, railroad, sea routes can be connected for greater efficiency. These projects could also involve North Korea as the inter-Korean relationship develops.
Revisions after the Covid-19 Global Outbreak
President Moon announced the “New Southern Policy Plus” initiative at the Korea-ASEAN summit held in November 2020.
The updates include healthcare and medical cooperation such as vaccine research and distribution aid for the developing countries and joint medical training.
Ministries in Charge of the New Southern/Northern Policy
The Presidential Committee on New Southern Policy and the Presidential Committee on Northern Economic Cooperation are in charge of making policies and act as a government control tower for the plan.
Each committee includes high-rank government officers from the Finance, Foreign, Unification, Interior, Trade Ministry, and the Presidential office as well as civilian experts.
How Is North Korea Related to New Southern/Northern Policy?
When conditions are ripe with progress with the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and lifted sanctions that would follow, joint business projects involving North Korea could take place with the neighboring countries such as China and Russia for a more concrete peace in the region.
Myanmar Coup & the New Southern Policy
Several commercial lenders from Korea have opened new offices in Myanmar only earlier this year and they are trying to maintain their business despite the coup.
The Korean government strongly called on the authorities to refrain from excessive and unnecessary violence against the protesters and hopes that democracy and constitutional order would be restored in Myanmar in a peaceful manner.
Meanwhile, Korean citizens, with a very similar experience from the May 18th Gwangju Democratization Movement in 1980 for instance, are deeply concerned with the current issue. Civil society activists, scholars, religious leaders, and politicians are voicing their support for democracy in Myanmar.
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