South Korea is very keen on joining the Quad grouping and the ball is now in the Quad’s court to decide on expansion, said Chang Jae-bok, the South Korean Envoy in India on September 13.
On the bilateral front, he said India and South Korea are negotiating expansion of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and have so far held 10 rounds of discussions but there are lots of unresolved issues , he said stating that after the bilateral meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the G-20 summit there is some momentum.
Ease of doing business
On ease of doing business, the envoy in a press interaction said, “We wish Indian authorities would work harder to make the business environment more friendly to Korean businesses.”
He said South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol raised the issue of more friendly conditions and doing business in India during the bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We hope India will respond positively, he remarked.
Elaborating on negotiations to upgrade CEPA, the Mr. Chang said the CEPA was agreed in 2009 and became effective from 2010. Five or six years later both sides realised that it needs to be upgraded. From 2016-17 there were negotiations which were stopped during the pandemic. “We have had 10 rounds of upgradation negotiations between Ministry of Commerce of Korea and Ministry of Trade of India. We still have lot of issues unsolved. Now with the discussion between the leaders we have some momentum to go on. I hope as the Ambassador, further negotiations will be coming up and we will be able to sort out outstanding issues,” he stated.
G-20 compromise
On the Delhi Declaration at the G-20 leaders summit and the compromise over the language on Russia, Mr. Chang said as India and China are members of G-20, there has to be some compromise. “Otherwise there is no agreement,” he said reiterating his appreciation for India and G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant for their “tremendous work.” “You showed the rest of the world that India is ready and will be the global leader in the near future,” he stated.
On the Quad grouping, Mr. Chang remarked that Quad members, India, Australia, Japan and U.S., are crucial partners of Korea and in any event we will work closely with them.
Just after he was elected President, Mr. Yoon had said that South Korea would consider joining the Quad if invited.
