South Korea hopes to flex middle power with first Pacific Islands summit



Analysis South Korea hopes to flex middle power with first Pacific Islands summit Experts say ROK’s ‘modest’ influence has room to grow across region as it straddles line between the US and China Shreyas ReddyMay 25, 2023 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and a map of the Pacific \| Image: ROK Presidential Office. Edited by Korea Pro South Korea is set to convene its first-ever summit with Pacific Island nations next week as it seeks to strengthen its influence in an often neglected corner of the Indo-Pacific region. Simultaneously, the island nations look to use this historic platform to press their vital interests, particularly in areas such as climate change and trade. The two-day summit kicks off May 29 in Seoul and will feature leaders from South Korea, the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) members and the PIF secretary general. The collective goal of the event is to strengthen ROK-Pacific cooperation. This summit is one of Seoul’s first © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. LATEST ANALYSIS 01Lee Jae Myung’s ‘pacemaker’ strategy tests South Korea’s leverage with Trump 02Trump’s Korea investment victory lap masks safeguards Seoul still controls 03North Korean POW dispute tests Seoul-Kyiv trust and future Ukraine policy 04South Korea’s CPTPP push exposes the cost of turning trade gains into consensus 05AI storage boom gives South Korea battery makers an EV overcapacity lifeline 06South Korea’s Mexico strategy runs into the hard limits of USMCA politics 07Preschool test ban forces South Korea’s English hagwons to rethink placement 08Lee Jae Myung’s Wall Street pitch tests South Korea’s capital market credibility

Analysis

South Korea hopes to flex middle power with first Pacific Islands summit

Experts say ROK’s ‘modest’ influence has room to grow across region as it straddles line between the US and China

Shreyas ReddyMay 25, 2023

South Korea hopes to flex middle power with first Pacific Islands summit

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and a map of the Pacific | Image: ROK Presidential Office. Edited by Korea Pro

South Korea is set to convene its first-ever summit with Pacific Island nations next week as it seeks to strengthen its influence in an often neglected corner of the Indo-Pacific region. Simultaneously, the island nations look to use this historic platform to press their vital interests, particularly in areas such as climate change and trade.

The two-day summit kicks off May 29 in Seoul and will feature leaders from South Korea, the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) members and the PIF secretary general. The collective goal of the event is to strengthen ROK-Pacific cooperation.

This summit is one of Seoul’s first

LATEST ANALYSIS

01Lee Jae Myung’s ‘pacemaker’ strategy tests South Korea’s leverage with Trump
02Trump’s Korea investment victory lap masks safeguards Seoul still controls
03North Korean POW dispute tests Seoul-Kyiv trust and future Ukraine policy
04South Korea’s CPTPP push exposes the cost of turning trade gains into consensus
05AI storage boom gives South Korea battery makers an EV overcapacity lifeline
06South Korea’s Mexico strategy runs into the hard limits of USMCA politics
07Preschool test ban forces South Korea’s English hagwons to rethink placement
08Lee Jae Myung’s Wall Street pitch tests South Korea’s capital market credibility

South Korea hopes to flex middle power with first Pacific Islands summit

LATEST ANALYSIS

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Shreyas Reddy