NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg’s two-day visit to South Korea on Sunday marked an important moment for the ROK’s partnership with NATO. Seoul established a dedicated diplomatic mission to NATO last November and Stoltenberg’s visit was aimed at deepening that partnership.

President Yoon Suk-yeol has repeatedly declared that his administration will pursue  values-based diplomacy and the Indo-Pacific Strategy that Seoul published in December clearly reflected the Yoon administration’s push to turn South Korea into a “global pivotal state.”