Seoul is reinforcing security partnerships in the Indo-Pacific and beyond as tensions flare in the economically important South China Sea and North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations persist.
South Korea upgraded ties with the Philippines and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in October 2024. Singapore and Seoul signed agreements on supply chain and liquefied natural gas cooperation.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol also said the nation will expand information sharing with NATO in response to destabilizing moves by North Korea and Russia, including Pyongyang’s recent troop deployment for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
As Manila and Seoul forged a strategic partnership after 75 years of diplomatic relations, Yoon pledged $2 billion to support infrastructure projects in the Philippines. Calling the partnership “a new chapter” for the nations, he said South Korea will “actively take part” in the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ modernization, according to the Asia Times website.
South Korea is the world’s 10th-largest arms exporter, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. It is a major supplier of fighter jets and ships, which the Philippines plans to prioritize over the next decade, the Asia Times reported.
In Manila, Yoon emphasized concerns about North Korean nuclear threats and disputes in the South China Sea. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) claims most of the sea, defying an international tribunal’s 2016 ruling invalidating the assertion.
The Philippines and South Korea “will continue to work together in order to establish a rules-based maritime order and for the freedom of navigation and overflight pursuant to the principles of the international law on the South China Sea,” Yoon said.
ASEAN and South Korea upgraded ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, the 10-member association’s highest level of relations with dialogue partners.
The move enhances security cooperation with regular defense minister meetings and support for South Korea’s efforts for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. Collaboration will extend to cybersecurity and transnational crime; sustainability and resilience, including in electric vehicles and climate change response; technology such as smart cities; trade and economic security with supply chain partnerships; and public health.
Both parties emphasized “the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea, in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).”
They pledged to promote “cooperation on maritime safety and security, including maritime law enforcement; and respect for international law and peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS.”
Yoon said the nation’s military will continue participating in exercises with ASEAN, according to The Straits Times newspaper.
After Seoul’s National Intelligence Service said in October 2024 that North Korea is sending troops to Russia’s war in Ukraine, Yoon held talks with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. The leader of the 32-member security alliance described the North’s actions as a blatant violation of international law and U.N. Security Council resolutions, according to the Yonhap news agency. Rutte and Yoon vowed to step up security cooperation, with Seoul committing to accelerated information sharing and other collaborative measures.
Yoon also met with Polish President Andrzej Duda about expanding defense cooperation amid the war in Ukraine. Poland borders Ukraine and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea, and Warsaw’s arms deals with Seoul in the past two years have fortified its military capabilities.
“South Korea won’t sit idle,” Yoon said after the talks, adding that the two countries consider North Korean and Russian actions to be global security threats.
