As South Korea’s new administration takes office, the country has the opportunity to recalibrate its alignments in the Indo-Pacific, especially around closer defence and technology cooperation with Australia.
The strategic rationale for this becomes stronger as war risks rise and as the United States looks less certain as a security backstop for both countries. South Korea and Australia are increasingly bound by converging security interests, democratic values and a shared commitment to maintaining a regional rules-based order.
South Korea’s change of government, following Lee Jae-Myung’s win in the 3 June presidential election, is the occasion for the two countries to consider deepening their relationship.
Both confront an increasingly assertive China, an unpredictable US regional posture, and the enduring threat of North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile capabilities. Both recognise that emerging technologies, supply chain vulnerabilities and grey-zone coercion are redefining the strategic operating environment. These shared challenges have elevated the relationship from peripheral engagement to a potential axis of middle-power coordination in regional security affairs.
The partnership has boundaries. Australia’s closest defence-technology and intelligence ties remain with its Five Eyes partners, and many will question whether South Korea could join Australia in a military contingency involving, especially since Japan is viewed as a more natural ally in such a scenario.
Differences in strategic culture, defence-industrial capabilities and established intelligence-sharing frameworks impose genuine constraints on how far bilateral cooperation can go. But the partners can to some extent work around these legacy arrangements—for example, by focusing on combined exercises in emerging technology domains, interoperability of critical systems, and coordinated efforts to shore up vulnerable supply chains. This would also support growing trust and more robust collaboration.
Bilateral defence cooperation between Australia and South Korea already sits on strong foundations. Since 2013, a regular meeting of their foreign and defence ministers has provided a platform for dialogue. The elevation of the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2021 further institutionalised this trajectory. Cooperation now needs to evolve from dialogue to capability, linking strategic intent with tangible joint outcomes. South Korea and Australia should prioritise frameworks that enable deeper interoperability, enhanced intelligence sharing, and joint operational planning. Regular participation in large-scale military exercises—such as Talisman Sabre and Ulchi Freedom Shield—must be expanded to encompass multi-domain scenarios, including cyber and space contingencies.
Defence industrial collaboration is particularly promising. Hanwha Defense’s significant investment in Australia—largely facilitating the production of advanced artillery and infantry fighting vehicles—signals the potential for long-term industrial integration and co-development. For the new South Korean administration, promoting this model in relation to other technologies, such as AI-enabled systems, cyber resilience platforms, and undersea capabilities, could serve both strategic and economic objectives. Joint research and development initiatives, supported by coordinated export policies and regulatory harmonisation, would deepen mutual defence autonomy while contributing to regional capability aggregation.
Multilateral frameworks are force multipliers. South Korea’s participation in initiatives such as the Proliferation Security Initiative and Operation Argos demonstrates its willingness to contribute to collective maritime enforcement and counter-proliferation efforts. Canberra and Seoul also share stakes in emerging minilateral arrangements, particularly as AUKUS expands its agenda under Pillar Two to encompass advanced technologies. While full South Korean participation in AUKUS remains improbable, targeted cooperation in AI, quantum computing, and electronic warfare could align with South Korea’s industrial strengths and reinforce coalition resilience in the face of rapidly evolving threats.
Emerging domains further underscore the strategic logic of collaboration. In cybersecurity and space, both countries face growing pressure to secure critical infrastructure and enhance strategic communications. Spending on small-satellite surveillance constellations, secure cloud computing, and joint cyber-training environments would build resilience and technological deterrence. South Korea’s advanced tech ecosystem and Australia’s intelligence integration with the Five Eyes network offer complementary advantages that can be leveraged to mutual benefit.
The new South Korean administration should seize this moment to elevate the relationship from cooperative intent to strategic interdependence. This requires more than just high-level summits or defence white papers. It demands institutionalised policy dialogue, joint capability planning, and integrated training pipelines for personnel across all services. It also requires political will to move beyond reactive hedging strategies and pursue proactive alignment based on shared interests rather than shared anxieties.
Security cooperation between South Korea and Australia would not supplant the centrality of the US alliance architecture, nor would it be meant to. Instead, it could serve as a stabilising pillar within a broader lattice of middle-power partnerships that strengthen regional deterrence, resilience and readiness. In an era where deterrence by presence and technological advantage increasingly shape outcomes, Seoul and Canberra must act not merely as observers of regional change but as architects of regional order.
If South Korea’s new government is to credibly project itself as an active middle power, it must look beyond the peninsula and invest in strategic partnerships that multiply both influence and capability. Australia, more than ever, offers such an opportunity. What remains is the political resolve to act decisively and the strategic imagination to build something enduring.