ABSTRACT
The essence of India's policy towards the Korean Peninsula after signing of the Armistice in Korea is to end the Korean War. The ROK viewed India as pro-communist and opposed India's inclusion in the Neutral Nations' Repatriation Commission (NNRC). ROK had sent a four-member goodwill mission in July-August 1961 led by the ROK Ambassador to South Vietnam, Choi Dul Shin, who later became the Foreign Minister of South Korea. It was significant that the mission called on Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru as well as the ministers of defence, finance and commerce and industry. However, under the dynamic but authoritarian leadership of President Park Chung-hee, an industrial revolution was already underway in the ROK. The Korean economy was rapidly transforming into an industrial economy, society was on course to achieve full literacy and Korean Chaebols had started to establish their global business empires. With this background, India-ROK relations were also set to evolve in a positive direction in the 1970s.
