ABSTRACT
South Korea and the Gulf states have always enjoyed a cooperative economic relationship. During the twentieth century, there was no obvious security dimension to the increasingly interdependent relationship between South Korea and the Gulf. The chapter begins with a brief survey of the largely economic relations between the Gulf and South Korea, including an overview of economic and military cooperation between the two sides. It analyzes the expansion of South Korea—Gulf relations into military cooperation and strategic partnership. The chapter addresses how Iran's recent reintegration into the international community may affect South Korea's burgeoning relations with the Gulf states. The 2015 visit of South Korean President Park Geun-hye to four of the Gulf states — Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar — reflected increased mutual interests and expanding cooperation between the two sides. The significance of the wider Gulf region to South Korea does not, however, end with oil.
