Exploring Trade Cooperation Between the Pacific Alliance and South Korea

By Jean-Marie Chenou and Ralf J. Leiteritz. Edited by Ramon Pacheco Pardo and Carolina Urrego-Sandoval.

01.02.2021

Our focus on the Pacific Alliance (PA) challenges the far-from-accurate idea of Latin America as a group of homogenous countries. Understanding the characteristics of the PA provides valuable policy recommendations for South Korea’s involvement in the region. Notably, one of South Korea’s foreign policy priorities is to strengthen diplomatic relations to increase trade and economic ties with other countries. In this sense, both South Korea and the PA have demonstrated their interest and commitment to forging deeper trade, investment, and cooperation ties beyond traditional partners like the United States and Europe. However, improving South Korea-PA relations as geopolitical neighbours and allies will to a great extent be contingent on the perspectives and views they have of each other, as well as the possibilities they see to maximise the benefits of already existing links. Access the full research report here.

In the policy brief, Dr. Carolina Urrego-Sandoval provides policy recommendations that could improve and strengthen South Korea’s relations with Pacific Alliance member states Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. The recommendations are the result of an original and rigorous research project which explored the evolution and effects of trade and investment relations on the views of PA member states’ key public and private actors on South Korea. The project and the resulting report provide an analysis of historical data on trade, investment, official development assistance, conducted online surveys, meetings and in-depth interviews. Consequently, the report characterised the evolution of trade, investment, and cooperation initiatives carried out (1) bilaterally between South Korea and PA members Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, and (2) multilaterally between South Korea and the PA as a bloc. The project considered this relationship vis-à-vis the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the world economy and in an uncertain international scenario. Access the policy brief here.

The editors would like to thank the Korea Foundation for its support through the Policy-Oriented Research Grant without which this report would not have been possible.