Posted on November 18, 2009 in Economics, Trade and Security, Policy Research, South Korea.

In a new East Asia Institute Issue Briefing, Min Gyo Koo of Yonsei University urges South Korea to use preferential trade agreements to build its ties to other Asian nations.

He concludes:

South Korea’s dream of becoming a leading player on the Asian chess board will not be realized unless the country is more willing to provide public goods. The provision of public goods does not have to involve a direct transfer of resources from South Korea to the rest of Asia. Public goods can be made available through multipurpose PTAs. To conclude, whether the highly ambitious New Asia Initiative will work is uncertain. The path to this new policy initiative is likely to be a bumpy one. Without consolidating domestic and international support, Lee faces an uphill battle to achieve his new foreign policy objective. At the time of writing this conclusion, President Lee visited Southeast Asia to attend the APT Summit as well as the East Asia Summit from October 20 to 25. The presidential office says that President Lee took this opportunity to promote his New Asia Initiative. We will have to see whether and to what extent his efforts are successful.”

Download the full briefing here.