A Tale of two cities

Simon and James with members of the Kiwi community in Seoul: L>R: Jared Lynskey (Chair, Kiwi Alumni), David Park (Secretary, Kiwi Chamber), Tony Garett (Chair, Kiwi Chamber), Kina Kunz (doctoral candidate from Otago University).

While Zoom has its place, there is nothing quite like connecting in person and the sensory experience of a real face-to-face meeting – and enjoying free and frank conversations that are otherwise challenging in front of computer screens.

The first port of call of our two-country trip (you can read about the Thailand leg below) was South Korea - one of the only countries in North Asia that no longer requires isolation upon arrival and is welcoming visa-waiver visitors again.

The 40-minute road trip from the airport to our hotel along gleaming new bridges and multi-lane highways revealed South Korea has obviously not been resting on its laurels during the pandemic. There was plenty of dynamism in the air promising a bright and exciting future ahead. 

We had three days of calls around town – catching up with our think tank partner the Asan Institute for Policy Studies; connecting with commentators, academics, and media; and meeting with representatives from the film/art/cultural sectors, as well as members of the Kiwi community in Seoul. The idea was to hear a broad spectrum of perspectives about what's happening in South Korea, and throughout the region – and what it might mean for us in New Zealand.

There was plenty to talk about: Joe Biden was in town that weekend, Korea had signed up to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, and North Korea was in the midst of testing missiles – all under the watchful eye of new South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who had recently announced at his inauguration some very positive messaging about South Korea’s ambition to play a bigger role in international affairs and become a “global pivotal state.”

For many years the Foundation, in the course of our Track II dialogues, has been encouraging the ROK how it might give back to the international system after benefitting from it for so long. Yoon’s words informed a refreshing roadmap ahead.

At the same time, our conversations showed that some things didn’t change, in particular the Korean world view, psyche and national interests, which remain narrow and firmly focused on the DPRK, the US, Japan and China.

This is the natural instinct and muscle memory of a nation that was long known, and for good reason, as the Hermit Kingdom. It was no surprise then to hear about the pragmatism around Seoul’s international relations and foreign policy – working quickly to build up concrete architecture with Washington to guarantee security and protection, yet not antagonise Beijing. This was not so much a balancing or hedging act, but simply an effort to get along together. On Japan, despite a warming relationship, there were some reservations of how far regional cooperation might go (especially along military lines) – historical differences had yet to be fully resolved.

Issues beyond this scope (such as Taiwan or the South China Sea) were not considered a priority – our Korean friends remarked they already had their hands full with the DPRK. Domestic opinion is also a significant factor in how the Yoon administration might proceed on the big challenges ahead. Re-unification wasn’t even raised as a topic of conversation during our three days in Seoul – something that seems to have been largely dismissed in the public narrative altogether.

The coming months will tell how Yoon’s call to action will come to pass – with key regional events that will undoubtedly impact Korea’s trajectory: a seventh nuclear test in Punggye-ri, the US mid-term elections, and what comes out of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing later this year. The main challenge for Yoon is how he will assert Korea’s place on the international stage – hopefully, as the old Korean adage goes, not as a ‘shrimp among whales’ but ‘a dragon rising up from a small stream’.