Cambodia-South Korea Relations

Cambodia-South Korea Relations By Som Chhunkunthieratn I. Overview Bilateral diplomatic relations between the two was reestablished in 1997 after official state visit of Prime Minister Hun Sen to South Korea in 1996. Within the last 20 years, the cooperation and partnership between Cambodia and South Korea have witnessed rapid advancement, especially in the last decade. II. Transition of Bilateral Relations Cambodia-South Korea ties have been widened and deepened since reestablishment of diplomatic relations in 1997. South Korea is playing an indispensable role in helping Cambodia achieve development strategy, sustain high economic growth and alleviate poverty. To realize a goal of becoming a middle power, South Korea has projected itself as a good will actor that is willing to assist developing countries achieving development benchmarks through its successful experience. Cambodia needs investment capital, knowledge, technology, assistance and experiences sharing in the field of good governance from South Korea. The contemporary bilateral relations between the two counterparts have witnessed dramatic advancement in all fields ranging from political to socio-cultural aspect. Cambodia and South Korea became strategic partners in 2009 when Prime Minister Hun Sen met former President Lee Myung-Bak. Current momentum of bilateral relations is the outcome of development, especially within the last 10 years. As the matter of fact, enlarged bilateral cooperation between Phnom Penh and Seoul began with close personal ties between South Korea s former President Lee Myung-bak, who used to serve as special economic adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen from 2000 to 2008, when he became the president of South Korea. It was through this personal relationship that bilateral relations between Cambodia and South Korea had reached a new turning point. As economic adviser, President Lee Myung-bak had provided advices on how to develop Cambodia economically and helped coordinate various investment projects from South Korea to Cambodia, particularly from companies within the Hyundai group, where President Lee had worked for 27 years before he left in 1992 (Finch & Mullins, 2009). Though formal diplomatic relations between South Korea and current Phnom Penh government were just established in 1997, contacts between the two countries took place long ago. During Korean War (1950-1953), under the UN framework Cambodia provided material aid supporting South Korean people. In 1962, Republic of Korea established first Consulate General in

Phnom Penh but withdrew in 1967 given severe relations resulted from the Cold War. Formal diplomatic relations were initially established in 1970 when American-backed government of Lon Nol came to power. The relations, like the regime itself, were short-lived and were terminated in 1975 when Khmer Rouge came to power. The demise of Cold War paved the way for a new era of cooperation between South Korea and Cambodia. Following the state visit of the then second Prime Minister Hun Sen who pushed for the resumption of formal relations between Phnom Penh and Seoul, Korean Representative's Office in Cambodia opened was opened in 1996. Low profile cooperation continued until 1998 when Korean Representative s Office was elevated to embassy. Likewise, Cambodia established its embassy in South Korea for the first time in 2001. Cambodia s inception into ASEAN in 1999 leveraged bilateral relations between Cambodia into another level. Regionally, South Korea considers Southeast Asian neighbors important for its economic development and ambition of becoming a meaningful middle power in the Asia Pacific. South Korea s presence in the region appears to be less controversial as it is often viewed as soft power who employs mainly economic and cultural tools as instruments of foreign policy. In 1989, ASEAN and South Korea first initiated sectoral dialogue relations, and in 1991, it became the second full dialogue partner of ASEAN. The first ASEAN-ROK Summit was institutionalized in 1997 to reinforce cooperation and partnership between ASEAN and South Korea over regional and global issues of common interests. In 2004, ROK signed a Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Cooperation Partnership acceded to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC). Significantly, in 2010 ASEAN-ROK relations were upgraded to a strategic partnership. This leveraged partnership allows South Korea and ASEAM member including Cambodia to exchange ideas over various issues ranging from economics to security. In particular, ASEAN and Korea cooperate and maintain close dialogue on bilateral, regional, and international issues through existing mechanisms such as ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), ASEAN Plus Three (APT), East-Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN-ROK Summit, ASEAN Defense Ministerial Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus), and other Ministerial Meetings. In the area of trade and investment, the cooperation is also robust. In 2005, ASEAN and Korea signed the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and other four agreements that form the legal grounds for the establishment of ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Area (AKFTA). AKFTA is a dynamic free trade area encompassing 670 million people with a combined GDP of 2.9 trillion USD. AKFTA was established with an aim to put forth more liberal and facilitative market access and investment regimes

among the involving parties. Three major Agreements under the ASEAN-Korea FTA include the ASEAN- Korea Trade in Goods Agreement (entered into force in June 2007); the ASEAN-Korea Trade in Services Agreement (entered into force in May 2009); the ASEAN-Korea Investment Agreement (entered into force in June 2009). To date, ASEAN is the second largest trading partner of South Korea while South Korea ranks as the fifth largest trading partner of ASEAN (AKFTA, 2012). Trade volume between ASEAN and South Korea reached 135 billion USD in 2013 while the mutual capital investment amounted up to 4 billion USD as of 2013. Despite short span of diplomatic relations, bilateral cooperation and partnership have been deepened and widened remarkably through cooperation in national, regional and multinational level. Bilateral relations have been dramatically consolidating during the late 2000s, especially after Angkor-Gyeongju World Culture Expo (AGWC EXPO) in 2006, when significant investment capital flowed from South Korea. Today, Cambodia is the second country that receives the largest ODA from South Korea after Vietnam. In general category, South Korea is the 7 th largest ODA provider to Cambodia, while it ranks 5 th in terms of bilateral ODA disbursement in 2013. Top 5 Bilateral ODA Providers to Cambodia Rank Bilateral ODA 1 st China 2 nd Japan 3 rd USA 4 th Australia 5 th South Korea Source: CDC-CRDB

Year Brief History of Korea-Cambodia Diplomatic Relations Brief History of Korea-Cambodia Diplomatic Relations 1962 Korean Consulate General in Cambodia established 1967 Korean Consulate General in Cambodia withdrawn 1970 Formal diplomatic relationship between Korea and Cambodia established 1970 Korean Representative's Office in Cambodia established 1970 Korean Embassy in Cambodia established 1975 Korean Embassy in Cambodia withdrawn and diplomatic relations ceased 1996 Agreement to establish Korean Representative's Office in Cambodia made 1996 Korean Representative's Office in Cambodia established and official operations launched 1997 Formal diplomatic relations between Korea and Cambodia re-established 1998 Korean Representative's Office in Cambodia elevated to Embassy 2001 Cambodian Embassy in Korea established 2003 KOICA office in Phnom Penh set up Source: Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Cambodia III. Current Bilateral Cooperation Within less than 20 years, bilateral relations between Cambodia and South Korea have reached a high level. To date, South Korea is one of the important foreign player in Cambodia, especially in the field of trade, investment, tourism and development assistant. Cooperation between the two counterparts could be evident in many sectors ranging politics to economy to culture. 3.1. Diplomacy and Politics In terms of diplomatic relations, there have been significant high-ranking official exchanges between the two countries. Amongst others are the last two significant official meetings between high-profile leaders of both countries. One was the sideline meeting between Prime Minister Hun Sen and President Park Geun-hye on December 15, 2014 during the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit. A wide range of issues encompassing bilateral relations, economic cooperation, development cooperation and issues on the Korean Peninsula were discussed. Both heads of governments also pledged to further intensify bilateral economic development. Another noticeable meeting was the meeting between Prime Minister Hun Sen and South Korea's Speaker of Parliament Chung Ui-hwa on May 14, 2015.

Year Exchange of Official Visits between Cambodia and South Korea Exchange of Visits 1996 Official visit to Korea by Second Prime Minister Hun Sen 2001 Official visit to Korea by Prime Minister Hun Sen 2001 Official visit to Korea by Norodom Ranariddh, President of the National Assembly 2002 Official visit to Cambodia by Prime Minister Kim Suk-soo, on the occasion of ASEAN+3 Summit in Phnom Penh 2004 Official visit to Cambodia by Kim Won-ki, Speaker of the National Assembly 2006 Official visit to Korea by Prime Minister Hun Sen 2006 Official visit to Cambodia by H.E. Ban Ki-moon, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2006 State visit to Cambodia by H.E. Roh Moo-hyun, President of Republic of Korea 2007 Official visit to Cambodia by H.E. Lee Sang-soo, Minister of Labor 2007 Official visit to Korea by Heng Samrin, President of the National Assembly 2008 Visit to Korea by Prime Minister Hun Sen and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hor Namhong (the inaugural ceremony for the 17th President Lee Myung-bak) 2009 Official visit to Cambodia by H.E. Lee Myung-Bak, President of Republic of Korea 2011 Official visit to Cambodia by H. E. Mr. Park Hee Tae, Speaker of the National Assembly 2011 Visit by H.E. Kim Nam Seok, Vice Minister of Public Administration and Security 2014 Visit to Korea by Prime Minister Hun Sen (ASEAN-RoK Commemorative Summit in Busan) 2015 Official visit to Cambodia by H.E. Chung Ui-hwa, Speaker of the National Assembly Source: Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Kingdom of Cambodia 3.2. Investment and Trade In the field of economy, in 2013 South Korea replaced United Kingdom as the largest investor, investing 287 million USD. Now South Korea is the second largest investor, following China, with cumulative investment of 4.46 billion USD in 2014 (The Cambodia Herald, 2015). South Korea companies are investing mainly in property, construction, and manufacturing activities, particularly in garment and electronics. As of March 2013, there were around 700 investment projects being implemented in Cambodia by Korean investors (Cambodian Business Review, 2013). Major well-known investment projects from South Korea are Camko satellite city, Hyundai Amco Phnom Penh Tower, and Hyundai assembly plant in Koh Kong province. Recently, there is also growing investment in banking and agribusiness. In the area of agribusiness, a South Korean group known as MH Bio-Energy Group is operating the first bio-ethanol plant in Kandal province with daily production capacity of 130-300 tons (Ngoun, 2008). During sideline meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen in 2014, South Korean President Park Geun-hye also asked Cambodian government to provide support for the launching of start-ups by Korean entrepreneurs. Additionally, they also singed five MOUs to cover education, health care and medical science, intellectual property, the

adoption of a retail payment system and cooperation on start-up businesses for youth in order to bolster economic cooperation between the two. Bilateral trade has also witnessed rapid surge in recent years. The volume of trade between Cambodia and South Korea has increased significantly from 152.73 million USD in 2005 to 540 million USD in 2011 and to over 1 billion USD in 2014, a 15 times increase (The Cambodia Herald, 2015). In 2012, Cambodia imported more than 900 million USD from South Korea while exported 70 million USD upwards. Cambodia s imports from South Korea include dyes, worn clothes, cigarettes, parts of combustion engine, and vehicles. Cambodia sold back to South Korea traditional products such as rubber, cotton, seafood and garment wear (Kun, 2012). Prime Minister Hun Sen also urged South Korea to import more Cambodia s raw materials. Trading relations between Cambodia and South Korea is coordinated by a specialized agency known as KOTRA (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency), operated under Commercial Section of Embassy of the Republic of Korea. It should also be noted that beside bilateral economic cooperation, Cambodia and South Korea are also partner bound together by AKFTA which came into force since 2007. 3.3. Development Assistance In tandem with investment and trade, South Korea also provides development assistance to Cambodia. Assistance is reported to be based on sharing experience of building up war-torn South Korea, which is similar to the current situation of Cambodia. South Korea is currently the 5 th largest bilateral aid and loan provider to Cambodia. Development assistance from South Korea is concentrated in two sectors including infrastructure development and capacity building in the fields of education, health and rural development. Development assistance of South Korea is coordinated by KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency), a forefront of Korea s international development efforts created in 1991. KOICA started its cooperation program in Cambodia in 1991 by providing office equipment, and in 2003 an oversea office (KOICA Cambodia) was set up in Phnom Penh. KOICA s main missions are to provide technical assistance and grant aid, and priority sectors in Cambodia include agriculture and rural development, infrastructure, human resource development and health. Republic of Korea considers Cambodia a priority partner country. Under the Korea s Official Development Assistance (ODA) umbrella, various socio-economic development projects have been implemented. Under the purview of KOICA, 156 million USD has reached the kingdom between 1991 and 2014; 42 bilateral projects have been implemented; 2,218 trainees have been invited to Korea; 326

volunteers have been dispatched to work together with different civil society organizations (Mao, 2015). There are also collaborations between Korean and Cambodia universities, researchers and scholars. In particular, there are scholarship positions provided by South Korean government to Cambodian students and officials who wish to study in Korean universities. Annual grant aid volume provided to Cambodia steadily increased, surpassing 24 million USD in 2013. Amongst other projects is Self-Supporting Rural Development Project with Saemaul Undong s Participatory Approach with total budget of 8 million USD. The project aims to raise income of rural communities in Cambodia based on the approaches and experiences implemented successfully in South Korea during the 1960s and 1970s. 30 25 20 15 10 5 8.7 KOICA's Annual Grant Aid Volume to Cambodia (Million USD) 11.3 6.8 15.3 17.9 20.1 24.3 21 24 estimation 0 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Source: KOICA Cambodia South Korean Development Assistance and KOICA s Projects in Cambodia from 2010 to 2014 Year Projects Duration Budget 2010 Construction of a Human Resource Development center at RUPP Project for Strengthening of Siem Reap Provincial Hospital Services in Cambodia Integrated Rural Development Project in Kroch Chhmar District Project for the Establishment of Hybrid Power System in the Kingdom of Cambodia Korean Ring Road Construction Phase I&II 2010-2014 2010-2012 2010-2012 2009-2011 2010-2012 7.45 Million USD 3.3 Million USD 2.5 Million USD 2.2 Million USD 17.4 Million USD

2011 Project for Master Plan for Railways Network Development Project for Enhancing Road Safety Facilities and Traffic Safety of NR No. 3 and No. 48 Project for Strengthening Capacity of Batheay Referral Hospital Project for the Establishment of Preah Angduong Eye Hospital in Phnom Penh Cambodia ICT Master Plan 2020 Cambodia National S&T Master Plan 2012 Project for Employment Opportunities and Ensure Effective E-Waste Management in collaboration with Samsung and UNIDO Waste Management Experience through Multi- Year Capacity Development KOICA and Korea Supreme Court Provided 3 Years of Multiple-Year Capacity Development Program on Judicial Training Program for The Senior Judge of Cambodia 2013 Project for Improving the Function of Cambodia- Korea Friendship Building at the National Pediatric Hospital Project for the Establishment of Civil Aviation Training Center (CATC) Project for Developing Technical Education at Upper Secondary School KOICA to Support UNICEF to Improve Maternal and Newborn Health Among Deprived Populations in Cambodia 2014 Self-Supporting Rural Development Project with Saemaul Undong s Participatory Approach Project for Securities Market Development in Cambodia Project for Feasibility Study on Waterway Improvement for Port Logistics Development in Cambodia Cambodia Health Sector Support Program (HSSP) Cambodia Ancient Temple Conservation and Restoration Work Source: KOICA Cambodia (www.koicacambodia.org) 2011-2013 2011-2015 2011-2014 2011-2014 2011-2013 2011-2013 2012-2014 2012-2014 2012-2014 2014-2018 2014-2020 2.8 Million USD 3.2 Million USD 3.5 Million USD 5.5 Million USD 3.5 Million USD 5 Million USD 1 Million USD 20 Million USD 2 Million USD 5 Million USD 10.1 Million USD 2 Million USD 3.4 Million USD 8 Million USD 2.5 Million USD 5.5 Million USD 5 Million USD 3.4 Million USD

3.4. Tourism and People-to-People Relations Besides economic cooperation and development assistance, people to people relations between the two countries have been leveraged dramatically. In the area of tourism, Korean was the fourth largest tourist group to Cambodia in 2014. The number of visitors stood at 378,337, accounting for 9.5% of total arrival (Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia, 2014). The prime destination of Korean visitor was Siem Reap. To date, there are six routine flights between Cambodia and South Korea. Another critical pillar of bilateral relationship between Cambodia and South Korea is inter-marriage between Cambodian women and Korean men. It is estimated that around 10,000 women have been married to Korean men. This marriage has produced robust and interlinked contact between people of the two countries. There is also a huge Korean community living across Cambodia. Of equal significance is the number of Cambodian migrant workers working in South Korea. It is estimated that there are currently 35,000 Cambodian workers in South Korea, sending approximately 200 million USD worth of annual remittance back to Cambodia (Khuon, 2015). South Korea is an attractive working destination for Cambodia migrant workers given better working conditions and employment benefits. Korean language has also become a popular language in Cambodia as many young people start to learn Korean to work in Korean companies, to work in South Korea or watch Korean dramas and movies. Few academic institutions are offering Korean language programs for students. For instance, the Royal University of Phnom Penh opened a Korean Department in January 2007. Culturally, both counterparts have bolstered mutual understanding through various programs such as Angkor-Gyeongju World Culture Expo (AGWC EXPO), a joint cultural festival, held in November 2006 at Siem Reap, K-pop Festival, Korean Speaking Contest, Quiz on Korea, Mooncake Festival and other cultural exchanges. There have been frequent visits of K-pop stars to Cambodia and Khmer cultural performance events in South Korea to raise awareness of both countries culture. In addition, Korea- Cambodia Culture and Welfare Center founded in December 2006 and Korea Culture Center founded in July 2008. IV. Cambodia in Inter-Korean Relations Cambodia positions in a unique juncture which could bridge both North and South Korea together. As Cambodia is having good diplomatic ties with both Koreas, it is possible that Cambodia could play an important role in bring both countries together in order to resolve prevailing conflict in Korean peninsula. King father Norodom Sihanouk has maintained long-standing personal connection with Kim family of North Korea, making Cambodia a rare country where North Korean embassy remains active. In 1996, Prime

Minister Hun Sen, sighting opportunity for enlargement of economic cooperation and development assistance, had pushed strongly to establish and strengthen relations with Seoul. Therefore, Cambodia is at a strategically important position to talk to both Koreas about pain-staking issues. A minor illustrative case is the existence of North Korean restaurant chain, known as Pyeongyang, where almost all customers are South Korean nationals. Through these restaurants, South Koreans came into contact North Korean waitresses, who are not defectors of the North regime. This could be seen a positive reinforcement of relations between the two brothers as people meet each other, creating friendly environment amongst people of both counties. V. Conclusion Within less than two decades, bilateral relations between Cambodia and South Korea have been deepened and widened in many sectors, especially in investment, trade and ODA. Through bilateral, regional, and multilateral cooperation, both counterparts have pledged to continue this close relations in order to strengthen cooperation in all fields. To Cambodia, South Korea is a good friend whose experience is practical for Cambodia s own development. Assistance from South Korea is also seen as suitable to the needs of Cambodia in order to achieve poverty reduction and socioeconomic development. People to people relations are playing a seminal role in cementing the existing relations to be more dynamic based on mutual understand. Ultimately, the unique relations of Cambodia with both North and South Korea are a good platform which could about a breakthrough in the relations of both Koreas, especially through the contacts of both nationals. Therefore, it is foreseeable that bilateral relations between South Korea and Cambodia will continue to flourish in many years to come.

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