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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

South Korea, under pressure from China, is moving closer to the Quad

  • Country will boost engagement with the grouping and take ‘gradual approach’ to formally joining, a senior official has told Yonhap
  • Seoul sees interests as ‘more aligned’ with those of Quad states and ‘may believe there is little it can do to placate Beijing’, observer says

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Leaders of the Quad nations in Tokyo last year. Seoul will take a “gradual approach” to joining the bloc, according to a senior official. Photo: TNS
Dewey Simin Singapore
South Korea’s plan to step up engagement with the four-nation Quad signals that it sees itself as increasingly “more aligned” with the grouping amid growing pressure from China, observers say.
Yonhap on Wednesday reported that Seoul would “proactively accelerate” engagement with the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, particularly by taking part in working groups on issues such as climate change.

It cited a senior official as saying that Seoul would adopt a “gradual approach” to formally join the grouping, made up of the United States, India, Australia and Japan.

02:35

South Korea steps up cooperation with Japan, US to counter growing threat from the North

South Korea steps up cooperation with Japan, US to counter growing threat from the North

“Although we have not yet joined the Quad, the [South Korean] government has been emphasising its importance in terms of its Indo-Pacific strategy,” the official was quoted as saying.

There has been growing discussion over whether the Asian country would formally join the Quad grouping ever since South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol indicated that he planned to align the country’s foreign and defence policies more closely with Washington.

China – which views the US-led bloc as a means to counter its expanding influence in the region – has previously aired concerns over the potential development. Former foreign minister Wang Yi has called the Quad a Nato in the Indo-Pacific and warned that it would severely undermine regional security.

Asked about South Korea’s plan to ratchet up engagement with the Quad, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning on Wednesday said countries should stay away from “exclusionary blocs”.

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