열린장관실

Remarks by H.E. Park Jin

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea

at King’s College London

28 September, 2023

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Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

I am Park Jin,

the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea.

I am honored to join this roundtable here at King’s College London – one of the world’s leading universities.

As an intellectual wellspring, King’s College London has developed a close partnership with Korea.

Not only has the University been engaging in active academic exchanges with Korean scholars and experts, it has also been working closely with the Korean Embassy here in the UK.

For me personally, KCL is where I studied war and peace as a research fellow.

(I was a MacArthur Foundation Fellow being supervised by Professor Lawrence Freedman!)

It’s great to come back to KCL more than 20 years after my stay here.

I also wish to thankfully acknowledge Professor Ramon Pardo for moderating this roundtable.

Professor Pardo has been a tireless exponent of Korea’s political, economic and cultural transformation.

The title of one of his recent books, Shrimp to Whale, is a brilliant metaphor of Korea’s phenomenal transformation.

The title refers to Korea’s historical self-image as a shrimp which had its back broken in the fight among larger neighbors.  

[ 한-영 관계의 과거 ]

When the Kingdom of Korea, which was called Chosun, established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom 140 years ago, it was indeed a weak and vulnerable shrimp.

Yet, Britons would help cultivate the seeds of freedom and democracy in Korea.

In the late 19th century, the first person to translate the New Testament into Korean was a Scot.  

Today, in a society that had historically been dominated by Confucianism, Christians make up more than 30 percent of Korea’s population, including myself.  

This would not have been possible without a Bible that is comprehensible to ordinary people.   

At the turn of the century, a British journalist also founded a newspaper that advocated for Korea’s independence.

The United Kingdom would later become more directly involved in the defense of freedom and democracy in Korea.

The UK made the second largest troop contribution during the Korean War, sacrificing the lives of more than 11 hundred young British men and women.  

With its survival assured thanks to the support of the international community, Korea would develop into a vibrant democracy an free market economy.

Today, it is one of Asia’s leading democracies, an economic and technological powerhouse, and global soft-power magnet.

Korea is the seventh country in the world to have both a per capita income above 30 thousand dollars and a population greater than 50 million people.

Hence the whale – or super dolphin swimming among whales.

The history of this phenomenal transformation and the divergent trajectory of the two Koreas, is well documented in Professor Pardo’s most recent book.

So I will leave it there.^^

No less important, Korea is bound together with the UK and other like-minded partners

by a shared commitment to upholding freedom and global security, democratic principles, the rule of law and the promotion of human rights.

Korea and the UK share a commitment to safeguarding freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law and the rules-based international order.   

[ GPS 및 인태전략 ]

As you may agree, we are living in a “Poly-crisis” era.

We are witnessing the revival of traditional geopolitics.  

US-China strategic competition is growing more intense.

And Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine shows no sign of abating.

Transnational challenges such as climate change, COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruptions are also impacting everyday life on a scale never seen before.

The interconnectedness of these global challenges

demands solidarity and cooperation.

The global Poly-crisis is both a moment of reckoning and a clarion call to collective action.

Today, Korea is re-calibrating its role and responsibilities in a manner commensurate with both its heightened stature and the growing expectations of the global community.

The Yoon Suk Yeol government has presented a foreign policy vision to play the role of a “Global Pivotal State,” or GPS in short.

It also announced last December,

the Strategy for a Free, Peaceful and Prosperous Indo-Pacific Region.

This strategy represents a concrete blueprint for implementing our vision to serve as a Global Pivotal State.

The strategy places the protection and promotion

of universal values and the rules-based international order at the very center of our foreign policy.

As a Global Pivotal State, Korea will actively contribute to promoting freedom, peace, and prosperity

in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

Just this year alone, we have made a number of landmark achievements that are bringing our GPS vision closer to fruition.

① 가치공유국들과의 유럽과의 협력 강화

For example, President Yoon Suk Yeol paid a historic state visit to the US in April.  

In the face of North Korea’s ever-growing threats, President Yoon and President Biden adopted the Washington Declaration.

The declaration dramatically bolsters extended deterrence.

It also launched the Nuclear Consultative Group to discuss nuclear and strategic planning - the first bilateral mechanism of its kind in international security.

This was followed by the Camp David trilateral summit in August, which opened a new chapter of trilateral cooperation among Korea, the US and Japan.

The Spirit and Principles adopted at Camp David laid a solid institutional basis for the sustainable development of our trilateral cooperation.

Through our commitment to consult, our three countries will also coordinate our responses to various regional challenges.

Strengthened solidarity with our European partners is also another critical milestone.

The UK is an indispensable partner.  The UK’s ‘Indo-Pacific Tilt’ and Korea’s Indo-Pacific Strategy offer avenues for creating strategic synergy.

At the invitation of His Majesty King Charles III, President Yoon will be making a State Visit to the United Kingdom in November.

The occasion will offer yet another historic opportunity to take our partnership to the next level.

President Yoon has also been attending NATO Summit meetings as a global partner for two straight years.

Korea and NATO have also further institutionalized our cooperation through the Individually Tailored Partnership Plan signed in July.   

② 북한, 우크라이나 전쟁

I would be remiss not to mention Kim Jong Un’s recent trip to the Russian Far East.

North Korea’s continued nuclear and missile threats,

and potential military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, have serious ramifications for peace and stability both on the Korean Peninsula and in Europe.

The possibility of North Korea acquiring the technological knowhow necessary to enhance its WMD capabilities, such as ICBMs and nuclear-powered submarines, in exchange for supporting Russia with conventional weapons, is very real.

Such a deal will be a direct provocation threatening the peace and security of not only Ukraine

but also the Republic of Korea.

As President Yoon warned in his speech at the UN General Assembly last week, Korea, together with its allies and partners, will not tolerate these existential threats.

One of the principles that emerged from Camp David is that a threat to the rules-based order anywhere undermines respect for it everywhere.

When fundamental rules are breached in Europe,

they represent a threat to the Indo-Pacific

– and vice versa.

The security of Europe and Asia are closely inter-linked.

③ G20, G7 협력

I would also like to highlight the importance of strengthening solidarity among likeminded countries at the multilateral fora.

For this is critical to ensuring that the world will be shaped in directions that are favorable to our common interests and our shared values.

The New Delhi G20 Leaders’ Summit this month and the Hiroshima G7 Summit in May offered opportunities for us to work together to safeguard the rules-based international order.

In particular, close coordination among the G7 nations and like-minded countries helped drive the outcomes of these Summits.

These include responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, cooperation on climate change, cooperation on AI governance as well as macroeconomic policy coordination.

Korea is now ready to upgrade its partnership with the G7, based on its GPS vision and Indo-Pacific Strategy.

Korea’s presence at the G7 Summit next year in Italy would offer a great opportunity to do so.

At a time when the BRICS is expanding by adding new members to its ranks, there are voices calling for the inclusion of Korea and Australia to the G7 group.

This sounds to me like a sensible idea.

Korea’s global diplomatic network can serve as an asset – a force mulitplier - for the advanced democracies.

The G7 has been confined in a frozen membership for the last five decades.  

During that period, the global political and economic balance of power witnessed seismic changes.  

The rise of China, global pandemics, climate crisis, supply chain disruptions, and the war in Ukraine demands new solutions.  

Korea, as a successful middle power, is a member of the cross-regional middle power group called MIKTA.

This includes Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, Turkiye and Australia.

MIKTA is committed to building bridges between developed and developing countries.  

Furthermore, Korea is hosting two consecutive Summits for Democracy.

To strengthen ties with the Global South,

Korea held its first-ever summit with the Pacific Island countries last May.  

It will also host an inaugural summit meeting with all African countries next June.

These are all valuable networks that the G7 can harness.

④ ODA

Korea’s commitment to expanding its roles and responsibilities is also well manifested in the robust growth of its ODA budget.

Despite budgetary pressures, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration has increased its 2023 ODA budget by 21.3 percent to 3.7 billion dollars.

It plans to raise that even further by a huge 43.2 percent next year, to over 5 billion dollars.

Korea plans to contribute more in areas

such as digital transformation, public health, and

climate action, and in responding to humanitarian challenges throughout the world to realize its GPS vision..

As a nation that has traveled the path from abject poverty to resounding success, we really wish to give back to our friends and partners across the world.

Let me close here, and I would be happy to hear your comments and take questions.  

Thank you.                                /END/