President-elect Yoon completes phone talks to all four Quad leaders

South Korean President-elect Yoon Seok-youl on Thursday had a phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – the 5th major head of state with whom he spoke since he was elected the 20th South Korean president. Yoon has talked to the leaders of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) – the United States, Japan, Australia and India – over the phone for the past eight days after being elected.

President-elect Yoon and Indian Prime Minister Modi reached agreement on the enhancement of the two nations’ cooperative relationship in a 20-minute-long dialogue. Last Thursday, Prime Minister Modi tweeted a congratulatory message to Yoon, saying, “I am looking forward to working with him to further expand and strengthen the India-ROK Special Strategic Partnership.”

India was Yoon’s 5th nation to talk to over the phone following the United States last Thursday, Japan last Friday, Britain on Monday and Australia on Wednesday. Experts analyzed that Yoon may intend to come closer step by step to the joining of the Quad – a united front across the Indo-Pacific region led by the United States against China, describing his recent moves as an implication of the upcoming Yoon administration’s pragmatic diplomatic policy with a stronger South Korea-U.S. alliance at the center.


Jeong-Soo Hong hong@donga.com