Geoeconomics of the Indo-Pacific

Abstract

As the United States and China execute their respective geoeconomic strategies in the Indo-Pacific, its outcome is, among other things, competing economic architectures led by the United States and China. The presence of competing economic architectures in the Indo-Pacific, however, poses strategic conundrum to countries in the region. The geopolitics to cope with changing balance of power in Asia has led to the emergence of competing geo-economic architectures: China’s BRI and the US Indo-Pacific Economic Vision. The US Indo-Pacific Strategy is founded on the geopolitical interest shared with Australia, India, and Japan in dealing with the rise of China. Especially with India on board, the US Indo-Pacific Strategy as a geopolitical construct becomes more credible in responding to China’s maritime rise in the Indo-Pacific region. However, the Indo-Pacific Economic Vision and China’s BRI appear to have limitations in delivering for the Indo-Pacific region as a whole. The US Indo-Pacific Economic Vision and China’s BRI both need to overcome the following challenges in order to produce desirable results. The geo-economic competition unfolding in the Indo-Pacific has significance to Korea. As a trading nation, about 99.7 per cent of Korea’s energy resources and cargoes use sea-borne transportation. As a way of carrying out the NSP amid geo-economic competition in the Indo-Pacific, Korea seeks to cooperate with the United States and China on Indo-Pacific projects where compatibility is identified. Korea’s dialogue partnership with the IORA will also provide multi-dimensional and multi-level opportunities to carry out the NSP. Lastly, carrying out the NSP in the competitive state of the Indo-Pacific requires Korea to advocate for building an inclusive architecture rather than joining divisive ones and engage in bilateral or trilateral diplomacy for that purpose. An inclusive architecture for the Indo-Pacific involving ASEAN would be more favourable for Korea to carry out the NSP. Korea and ASEAN have common interest in building an inclusive architecture for the Indo-Pacific and thus should cooperate for diplomatic strategies to achieve this objective.