NEW DELHI, June 29: South Korea has reaffirmed its commitment to expanding ties with India across strategic sectors, including shipbuilding, artificial intelligence, critical minerals, and industrial collaboration, with Ambassador Lee Seong-ho describing the relationship as one between “ideal natural partners” amid an increasingly uncertain global environment.
In an interview with ANI on Monday, Lee discussed External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s recent visit to Seoul, saying the trip was intended to advance the commitments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during the president’s visit to India in April.
“Jaishankar was in Seoul last week to have a meeting with his counterpart, Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun. The main purpose of his visit was to follow up on the agreements and commitments made by both leaders during the presidential visit to India in April,” Lee said.
The ambassador noted that Jaishankar’s participation in the Jeju Peace Forum—often regarded as South Korea’s counterpart to India’s Raisina Dialogue—added strategic significance to the visit.
“He gave a very impassioned speech on the global order and the roles that Korea and India might play in this changing global order,” Lee said, describing the visit as “very fruitful.”
According to Lee, the two foreign ministers reviewed cooperation across a wide range of sectors, including shipbuilding, semiconductors, industrial collaboration, and people-to-people exchanges, reaffirming their commitment to implementing the vision outlined by their national leaders.
Lee said emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, battery technology, and critical minerals have become central pillars of future cooperation as both countries seek to reduce strategic dependencies and strengthen supply chain resilience.
“Those are the emerging critical technologies that are the area of mutual interest for both our countries,” he said, adding that India and South Korea are now pursuing collaboration in artificial intelligence “more intensely.”
He also highlighted the growing importance of critical minerals, saying both nations have significant potential to cooperate in securing strategic resources essential for clean energy and advanced manufacturing.
Describing the broader bilateral relationship, Lee said India and South Korea are uniquely positioned to work together because they share no historical or political baggage.
“Both Korea and India are ideal natural partners for each other, especially in these very fragile, rapidly changing global dynamics,” he said.
Lee pointed to the strong economic complementarity between the two countries, citing India’s scale, skilled workforce, and information technology capabilities alongside South Korea’s advanced manufacturing expertise and technological strengths.
“India has the scale, size, talent pool, IT infrastructure, whereas Korea has the manufacturing skill and know-how to complement India’s Make in India vision,” he said.
Jaishankar visited the Republic of Korea from June 24 to June 25, during which he held bilateral talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun in Seoul.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the discussions reviewed the full spectrum of bilateral relations and included exchanges on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
Jaishankar also invited Cho to visit India for the next meeting of the India–Republic of Korea Joint Commission at a mutually convenient date. (ANI)
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