South Korea-Australia Economic Relations in Li Mingbo Period

This paper intends to explore South Korea-Australia FTA negotiations under the premise that the converging foreign policy orientations focusing on Asian regionalism under Australian Labor Party Governments and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak have brought about the inauguration of their bilateral FTA negotiations. Those variables that contributing to shaping their foreign policy orientations are economization of international relations, regionalization of world economy, rising China, Sino-US cooperation and competition as well as North-South economic Collaboration and competition. It begins with examining each other's approaches to rising China and the acceleration of Asian economic integration, then highlighting their perceptions of each other and current economic interactions as well as identifying their converging national interests, goals and regional diplomatic demarches, and finally exploring the possibility of institutionalizing Australia-South Korea economic relations by signing a FTA and its implications.