Singapore, South Korea upgrade ties to strategic partnership
Such partnerships provide ‘stable, predictable framework’ for businesses, says PM Wong
[SEOUL] Singapore and South Korea upgraded bilateral ties to a Strategic Partnership on Sunday (Nov 2) during Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s official visit to Seoul, fulfilling a goal that both countries agreed upon last year.
In a joint press conference with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung after a delegation meeting, PM Wong said: “President Lee and I just now reaffirmed the excellent state of our relationship, and the vast potential for us to do more together.”
He highlighted five areas of cooperation under the partnership: public sector cooperation, including defence and cybersecurity; economic ties; sustainability; research, innovation and technology; and people-to-people exchanges in education, arts, culture and sports.
On the sustainability front, for instance, both countries will establish a green and digital shipping corridor, collaborating on initiatives to support the maritime sector’s transition to greener fuels and accelerate its digitalisation.
Separately, both countries will also collaborate on next-generation energy solutions such as ammonia, hydrogen and civil nuclear energy.
“These efforts will not only contribute to our national green agendas, but also serve as models for broader regional cooperation,” said PM Wong.
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The green and digital shipping corridor was one of several memoranda of understanding (MOUs) exchanged under the partnership on Sunday.
A separate MOU on digital collaboration covers areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), next-generation communications infrastructure, cybersecurity and digital sustainability.
““The model has changed... the global context is different. And so for Singapore, given that we are just a small island city, how do we respond? We have to double down on our collaborations with partners.””
PM Lawrence Wong
President Lee said that both countries will “work together to respond to the evolving economic and security environment, while further strengthening cooperation in advanced technologies and expanding people-to-people exchanges”.
He highlighted an expansion of joint research in defence technologies, and expressed South Korea’s strong willingness to participate in Singapore’s efforts to diversify its sources of defence materials.
Another agreement reached is for the export of beef and pork from Jeju Island to Singapore for the first time, he added.
In his speech at the press conference, PM Wong noted that both leaders agreed to work together for regional peace, stability and prosperity and to reinforce the multilateral rules-based trading system.
“That is why we are jointly launching a project under the Singapore Cooperation Programme and the Asean-Korea Cooperation Fund, to support Asean’s digital transformation.”
Singapore looks forward to launching negotiations to upgrade the Asean-Korea free trade area early next year, he added.
Later, in a Facebook post describing the move as “a milestone” in Singapore’s friendship with South Korea, PM Wong said: “This Strategic Partnership is our commitment to becoming even stronger partners: working together to build an innovative, sustainable, and stable future for both our peoples and the region.”
In the October 2024 state visit of Lee’s predecessor Yoon Suk-yeol to Singapore, the leaders announced that both sides would work towards this upgrade in 2025, in the 50th year of diplomatic relations.
PM Wong arrived in Seoul on Saturday night, following a working visit to Gyeongju for the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
Partnerships for stability
“In this uncertain and rapidly changing world, partnerships between like-minded countries like Singapore and Korea have become ever more vital,” said PM Wong at the joint press conference.
This year, Singapore has upgraded bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) with several countries: Vietnam, France, India and most recently New Zealand.
Asked if such partnerships represent a concerted strategy in response to the changing global economic model, PM Wong replied: “Very much so.”
“The model has changed... the global context is different,” he said in an interview with Singapore media.
“And so for Singapore, given that we are just a small island city, how do we respond? We have to double down on our collaborations with partners.”
Whether a CSP or a strategic partnership, Singapore wants “to forge a partnership of trust”, he said: “A partnership that provides a stable and predictable framework for businesses to operate.”
With the global economy facing pressures of fragmentation, companies are uncertain about how to operate across borders, he noted. They might ask: “Will export restrictions be imposed one day after I’ve sunk in huge amounts of investments in a particular country?”
These concerns raise business costs and make it hard both for companies to operate, and for Singapore as an economy to operate and survive, he added.
“But with a network of trusted partners, we provide that framework from which then new supply chains can be forged, new linkages can be put together by the businesses themselves, and then we can ensure the macroeconomic conditions for our businesses to thrive.”
Energy, AI, semiconductors
Asked about specific areas of economic cooperation, PM Wong replied: “We share complementarities between our economies, and we both have shared ambitions to move forward in innovation, in sustainability, in technology. And that’s where I think there is a lot of scope for greater collaboration.”
Highlighting South Korea’s technological strengths in areas such as energy, AI and semiconductors, he said that Singapore hopes to complement these with its market networks and financial strengths, for example.
Singapore can also be a base for South Korean companies to expand into the wider region or the world, he added, noting that this is already happening with leading Korean companies headquartered in Singapore.
In 2024, South Korea was Singapore’s seventh-largest trading partner in goods, while Singapore was South Korea’s 10th-largest trading partner in goods. Bilateral merchandise trade was S$66.8 billion, more than 5 per cent of Singapore’s total trade with the world.
PM Wong observed that in the last five years, Singapore’s investments in South Korea have doubled, while South Korea’s investments in Singapore have grown by over 70 per cent.
At the end of 2024, Singapore was South Korea’s fourth-largest investor by stock, while South Korea was Singapore’s fifth-largest Asian investor by stock.
President Lee said he hoped that Singapore would expand its investment in South Korea’s small and medium-sized enterprises as well as “K-content”, referring to pop culture products.
The press conference took place at Yongsan Presidential Office, where PM Wong met President Lee and was later hosted to an official luncheon. PM Wong returns to Singapore later on Sunday.
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