Soft Power in India-South Korea Relations and Role of Cultural and Popular Connections

Abstract

India and South Korea relationship has seen remarkable journey in the last three decades. Apart from rising political and economic weights of both the countries, India and South Korea have also emerged as important soft powers in the region. Their soft powers are based on their rich cultural and historical heritages, their democratic traditions and productions of world famous entertainment contents such as movies, dramas, music and so on. The awareness of the cultural connection between the two countries might have been less than expected but both the countries are indeed committed to reach out each other through these connections. Actually soft powers of both the countries are also useful in connecting them bilaterally as well as providing them access to the Southeast Asian countries. This paper tries to look at the role of soft powers of both the countries in their bilateral relations. When the small and middle powers of the region are forced by the US-China contests to work more on their hard powers and alliances/partnerships, the paper argues that a cooperative narrative may emerge in the region through the soft powers reach outs of India and South Korea and their attempts of agenda setting for the region. The paper would also try to explore trajectory of India-South Korea people-to-people connections and flag problems and prospects in the process.