ABSTRACT
Launched in November 2017, President Moon Jae-in’s New Southern Policy (NSP) is arguably Seoul’s visionary blueprint for a regional foreign policy toward ASEAN and India, commensurate with a more confident middle power in the international system. This chapter assesses the significance of the Korean middle power to codify and declare a set of foreign policy principles toward ASEAN and India by analyzing the reasons for the NSP and its institutionalization in Seoul’s foreign policy. It evaluates whether the NSP is an incipient foreign policy doctrine in the making by taking into consideration the departure of Moon from the presidency in 2022, the possibility of the policy being rebranded under the new Yoon Suk-yeol administration, and the continued importance of India and ASEAN in Asia and the world. The diverse views of the contributors to the volume vis-à-vis the efficacy of the NSP from various regional and country perspectives are summarized, and it is concluded that South Korea’s comprehensive relations with Southeast Asia and India are likely to strengthen in the years ahead. If Seoul can enhance its ties with the NSP countries over the next two to three decades, then there is the possibility that the NSP (or a relaunched incarnation with a new brand name) may become a South Korean regional doctrine on par with the Japanese Fukuda Doctrine to guide, inspire and transform its foreign relations with Southeast Asia and beyond. South Korea will then become a quintessential middle power in the international system.
