South Korea’s engagement with the Indo-Pacificregion: Vietnam’s perspective

South Korea’s recent engagement with the Indo-Pacific region has been
characterised by new efforts to implement the New Southern Policy (NSP)
aimed at elevating its strategic ties with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Such cooperation is driven by strategic, political, economic, and social choices by both sides and is influenced by great power competition between the United States and China. Vietnam, as a leading partner of the policy, has strongly supported South Korea’s NSP, and has acted as South Korea’s gateway to ASEAN. In further pursuing the NSP, South Korea can replicate its successful cooperation with Vietnam with other ASEAN countries.
By upholding ASEAN centrality in the NSP, South Korea and other countries, though they have their own approach to the region, share complementary rather than competing ideas about the Indo-Pacific region, creating synergy for building peace and prosperity for the region.

Dr Chu Minh Thao is Deputy Director at the Centre for Security and Development, Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. She can be contacted at thaocm@gmail.com/thaocm@dav.edu.vn

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