Congratulatory Remarks by H.E. Kim Jina 

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Open Conversations (April 25)

(Check Against Delivery)

Your Excellency, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and

Professor Jonathan Michie,

Ambassador Colin Crooks,

Distinguished participants,

Let me begin by extending my sincere congratulations on this year’s Open Conversations. 

It is my privilege to address this distinguished group of former ministers, diplomats, and leading scholars.

So it is in a spirit of humility that I will attempt to make sense of today’s rapidly changing world and share some of Korea’s foreign policy priorities.

At the start of this year, no one really expected a year of calm and stability.

The institutions, norms, and assumptions that shaped the post-WWII era are under visible strain, while no clear alternative order has emerged yet. 

Some describe this as the erosion of the international liberal order; others see it as the turbulent arrival of a post-hegemonic world. Whatever term we use actually, the reality is the same: we are living through an age of profound strategic uncertainty.

History tells us that such periods are often the most dangerous—not just because states seek war, but because they misread one another.

The greatest risk today is not deliberate conflict, but strategic miscalculation: when deterrence fails, red lines are misunderstood, and short-term bargains create long-term instability.

This is why responsible stakeholders must play a greater role than ever. Countries like the Republic of Korea are not merely spectators of major-power competition. We are responsible stakeholders in preserving stability, defending a rules-based order, and preventing strategic miscalculation.

Our task is not simply to protect ourselves from external shocks, but to ensure that regional instability does not become systemic conflict. For Korea, this means ensuring that the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia do not become the place where global disorder turns into global war.

North Korea remains still a very serious and evolving challenge within this broader strategic environment. Its nuclear and missile technology continue to advance. Its strategic alignment with Russia has grown through the war in Ukraine, while its relations with China are quietly improving. Developments in the Middle East, of course, also reinforce Pyongyang’s conviction that nuclear weapons are essential to regime survival.

In navigating these turbulent waters, our government is pursuing a pragmatic foreign policy firmly grounded in our national interest.

George Kennan once wrote that the true interests of a nation lie in its security, the integrity of its political life, and the well-being of people. 

For Korea, pragmatism is not the abandonment of principles. It is rather a disciplined pursuit of peace, stability, and prosperity in a world where uncertainty has become structural. 

This is why Korea acts not as a passive observer, but as a responsible global partner in preserving international peace and security. Our security remains firmly anchored in our alliance with the United States, while we strengthen strategic partnerships with the United Kingdom and with other partners across Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

We are also expanding cooperation with the broader Global South across energy, defense industry, critical minerals, and advanced manufacturing. 

This year, Korea has significantly expanded its high-level diplomacy, with summit-level overseas engagements more than doubling and senior special envoys being dispatched to key partner countries across regions on issue-specific missions.

At the same time, we are strengthening economic security and helping shape the rules of technological transformation. Last year, Korea advanced the APEC AI Initiative, focused on supporting successful AI transformation across the region through capacity-building and wider access to technology. We believe the AI era should not deepen digital divides, but create shared opportunities for innovation, growth, and resilience.

As chair of FORGE—a multilateral framework for resilient critical mineral supply chains—Korea is helping shape the economic foundations of strategic stability. In today’s world, supply chains are no longer merely commercial networks; they are part of our national security itself.

Beyond security and economic resilience, Korea also believes that global influence is increasingly shaped by cultural affinity. Our growing creative industries—from film and music to gaming and e-sports—have become an important pillar of our foreign policy, strengthening people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.

On the Korean Peninsula, despite many obstacles, our government remains committed to a future defined not by hostility and mistrust, but by peaceful coexistence and cooperation.

On the North Korean nuclear issue, we cannot relent on the goal of complete denuclearization. At the same time, we are clear-eyed about what is realistically achievable. A phased approach—stopping, reducing, and ultimately dismantling—offers the most credible path to meaningful progress.

Korea will continue to pursue every realistic opening for dialogue and de-escalation.

Distinguished Guests,

I would be remiss if I did not speak a few words about Korea’s growing partnership with the United Kingdom. It is a partnership rooted in shared values, strategic trust, and a common commitment to preserving a rules-based international order.

The security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific can no longer be separated any more. What happens in one region increasingly shapes stability in the other. The United Kingdom has shown consistent leadership—from its steadfast support for Ukraine to its defense of international norms and institutions. Korea deeply values this partnership.

As the United Kingdom prepares to host the G20 in 2027, followed by Korea in 2028, and then assumes the G7 presidency in that same year, we look forward to working closely together on shared global challenges. Our upgraded FTA, expanding defense cooperation, and growing people-to-people exchanges actually reflect a partnership deepening in both substance and ambition.

Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest: “What’s past is prologue.”

Many fear that today’s fractures and conflicts echo the instability of the interwar years. But history is not destiny. The future will be shaped by the choices we make and the partnerships that  we build.

In times of uncertainty, dialogue matters even more. So in this sense, that is why forums like Open Conversations are so valuable.

Thank you.

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