Description: South Korea and Indonesia’s presidents met at the Blue Palace in Seoul where they expanded energy and defense ties between their respective countries while also announcing a potential strategic partnership in the near future. Prabowo Subianto and Lee Jae Myung discussed expanding the export of LNG from Indonesia to South Korea, collaborating on research and extraction of rare earth minerals and their joint cooperation on the development of South Korea’s KF – 21 supersonic fighter jet. Lee stated that Indonesia proved to be a stable and reliable partner while Subianto replied that Indonesia strives to achieve South Korea’s technological advancements and industrial capabilities.
Impact: With the expansion of the mutual partnership, Indonesia enforces its regional role of multi – vectored foreign policy, while South Korea reinforces the regional partnership in times of escalating energy crisis and expanding Chinese influence. South Korea aims at tapping Indonesia’s vast market and ensuring stable and consistent energy supplies, especially liquified natural gas. Indonesia is expanding its portfolio of influential partners in the region, having courted China, Russia, the US, France and Australia in recent years, which strengthens the country’s independent approach and positions it as a major balancing force in the volatile Indo – Pacific.