KOREA RISING

Korea has long been known as a "shrimp among the whales", boxed as it is among China, Japan, Russia and the United States in northeast Asia. While the divided Korean Peninsula's geopolitics continues to be shaped by the great powers, South Korea is rapidly emerging as a middle power to reckon with in Asia and beyond. South Korea has long been an economic powerhouse. What we are seeing today is Seoul's conscious search for a political and diplomatic role in Asia and beyond. Sustained high growth rates since the 1960s had transformed South Korea from a backward country at the end of World War II into the world's 12th largest economy (PPP terms) and 15th largest (nominal GDP) by 2012.

As the world's seventh largest exporter and eighth largest importer, South Korea is one of the world's important trading nations. Its companies have steadily moved to the export of sophisticated products, including nuclear reactors. Samsung, for example, is giving Apple a run for its money in the global markets for smartphones and tablets.

South Korea has free trade agreements with many countries, including the US, Europe, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India. It actively participates in the building of an Asian economic community within a framework led by the ASEAN.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye is now building on her predecessor Lee Myung-bak's efforts to convert Seoul's growing economic power into political influence. Despite being hobbled by an unending conflict with North Korea, Seoul has begun to look beyond the Peninsula to establish a solid global strategic footprint. While holding on to its longstanding alliance with the US, Seoul has deepened ties with China and Russia, the major benefactors of North Korea. It has strategic partnership agreements with a number of countries, including Australia and Vietnam.

source:Indian Express