On May 29th, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol begins the country's first summit with leaders of Pacific islands, as Seoul seeks to increase its influence in a region that has become the focus of intense geopolitical rivalry.
Last year, Yoon launched his government's Indo-Pacific strategy, which aims to foster a free, peaceful and prosperous region founded on a rules-based order, amid worries over China's security ambitions for the strategic waters and economic leverage among the small island states.
The president of South Korea met with some of the visiting Pacific leaders, including President Taneti Maamau and Prime Minister James Marape of Papua New Guinea.
The president discussed expanding reciprocal cooperation in developing, marine and fisheries, as well as building health infrastructure and responding to climate change, in bilateral meetings with each of the Pacific islands, Yoon said in a statement.
The Indo-Pacific strategy of South Korea presents a greater opportunity for Trilateral Cooperation with the United States and Australia to tackle regional challenges such as supply chains, critical minerals and climate change.
While the Yoon government's strategy indicates closer alignment with the US, South Korea must still move cautiously between the two great power rivals given Seoul's larger economic and geopolitical stakes in China relative to other US allies, Yeo said.
Australia's Defence Minister Richard Marles is also scheduled to attend the Korean-Pacific Islands summit, his office said on Saturday, adding that it would show cooperation between the 18 members of the Pacific Island Forum and South Korea for a secure region.
The largest members of the forum include Australia and New Zealand, a group of mostly small island nations at risk from increasing sea levels caused by climate change and relying on aid from development partners.
The group has taken a collective approach to dealing with key power-sharing organizations.
Narendra Modi, India's prime minister, pledged more trade and development aid in a meeting with a dozen Pacific island leaders in PNG last week. The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also signed a defence agreement with PNG on the basis of a summit in the Pacific.
Micronesia could not attend the meeting in Seoul because of a typhoon, Yoon said.