Singapore's Relations With North and South Korea

Abstract

The year 2020 marked the 45th anniversary of Singapore’s diplomatic ties with North Korea or Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and South Korea. This chapter seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of the way in which Singapore has approached its relations with North and South Korea, focusing on the post-Cold War period. It argues that Singapore’s approach toward North and South Korea reflects the principles and pragmatism characterizing its foreign policy. The chapter demonstrates that Singapore is guided by a combination of principles and pragmatism in its engagement with North and South Korea. It sketches the origins of Singapore’s diplomatic relations with North and South Korea during the Cold War years. Amid ideological tensions during the Cold War and its new status as an independent nation-state in 1965, Singapore was careful to project itself as non-aligned by cultivating relations with countries in both the eastern and western camps.