South Korea–Turkey relations
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South Korean–Turkish relations ( ko, 대한민국-튀르키예 관계, translit=Taehanmin'guk-T'wirŭk'iye Kwan'gye; tr, Güney Kore-Türkiye ilişkileri) are the foreign relations between South Korea and Turkey. The
Turkish embassy This is a list of the diplomatic missions of Turkey. Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania Intergovernmental organizations Embassies to open * * * * * * * * * Consulates to open *  – Aden *  – Chengdu *  – Ch ...
is in Seoul, while the South Korean embassy in Ankara and a consulate-general in Istanbul. Both countries are members of the G20.


History

Early contact can be traced back to antiquity, when the
Göktürks The Göktürks, Celestial Turks or Blue Turks ( otk, 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰰:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣, Türük Bodun; ; ) were a nomadic confederation of Turkic peoples in medieval Inner Asia. The Göktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and ...
had supported ancient Goguryeo, a Korean kingdom, during their expansion and also assisted them against Tang Chinese forces. As both Göktürks and Goguryeo were threatened by Tang dynasty of China, they formed a political, economical, and military alliance. Göktürk soldiers assisted Goguryeo in many battles, including in the war against Silla, another Korean kingdom, and Tang China; this alliance went on extended to the Balhae as well. Commerce and correspondence was also maintained through the ancient
Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
after a part of the ancient
Oghuz Turks The Oghuz or Ghuzz Turks (Middle Turkic languages, Middle Turkic: ٱغُز, ''Oγuz'', ota, اوغوز, Oġuz) were a western Turkic people that spoke the Oghuz languages, Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages, Turkic language family. In th ...
migrated westward and settled in the lands of Anatolia (today Turkey).Turkish art shines light on ties with Korea
/ref> South Korea and Turkey have enjoyed a longstanding relationship marked by strong economic, diplomatic, people to people, and touristic ties. These relations can be largely traced to the formation of the South Korean nation, when Turkey, namely the Turkish Brigade, had supported South Koreans against North Korean and Chinese forces at the Korean War. Of the 721 Turkish soldiers who fell in the war, 462 were buried at the
United Nations Memorial Cemetery The United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea (UNMCK; ), located at Tanggok in the Nam District,; also seeKorea 1:50,000 Pusan Sheet 7019 III (1947) an City of Busan,As a transliteration from Korean, the city name 부산 () was typically spel ...
(Heroes' Cemetery) in Busan. Based on those mutual gestures and acts of ancient friendship, the relationship between the two nations is often referred as "Korean–Turkish brotherhood" ( tr, Kore–Türk kardeşliği; ko, 한국 – 터키 우정). Participation of Turkish troops in the Korean War (June 25, 1950 – July 27, 1953) led to the formation of an alliance between South Korea and Turkey.Heechul, L., (2012). An Analysis of Korean-Turkish Relations: Rising Trade Partnership and Deepening Integration. Usak Yearbook of Politics & International Relations, 5, 227–242 After the government of Republic of Korea was announced on August 15, 1948, Turkey, in 1949, was the 10th country to recognize the South Korean government as the only legitimate government on the Korean Peninsula. Turkey was the third country to establish a permanent embassy in South Korea after the United States and Republic of China and South Korea established its seventh diplomatic mission in Turkey. The 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea South Korea and Turkey occurred in 2007 and 2010 marked the 60th anniversary of participation of Turkish troops in Korean War. Turkish troops withdrew from Korea during 1970s and then the focus of relationship between the two countries moved from military to economy and commerce. In 1971 a sister city agreement was reached between Seoul and Ankara and a Korean Park was built in Ankara, and in 1973 a Korean War memorial monument was erected in the park. In 1974 the Korea Trade Center or KOTRA opened an office in Istanbul.


Economic relations

In 2013, both countries entered into a free trade agreement. The two countries signed an agreement on trade promotion and economic technical corporation in 1977. The visits of Turkish president in 1982 and the prime minister's visit in 1986 gave great importance to economic cooperation with Korea after their accelerated economic growth and Turkey chose to emulate Korea's economic model and called it the "Korean model", it was during this time that many business-related visits occurred from Turkey to Korea to learn Korea's economy development. The first official Korea-Turkey Joint Economy committee meeting was held in Ankara in 1981 and the private level Korea-Turkey Business Council was established in 1987 and the first meeting was held in Istanbul, in 1989 when both Korea and Turkey were searching for new markets to export their products. In the mid 1980s Korean companies began investing in Turkey and Turkey's domestic market became a gateway to Europe and the Middle East for Korean businesses. The first investment from Korea came in 1987 when
GoldStar GoldStar was a South Korean electronics company established in 1958. The corporate name was changed to LG Electronics and LG Cable on February 28, 1995, after merging with Lucky Chemical. LG Cable was spun off from LG Electronics and changed i ...
created a joint investment company with Vestel and began manufacturing microwave ovens and color TV's at a factory in Manisa. The same year Samsung Electronics collaborated with Tatış Holding and manufactured color TV's and video cassette players at a factory in İzmir. They were followed by LG Electronics, Hyundai, Daewoo, and others.
Hyundai Motor Company Hyundai Motor Company, often abbreviated to Hyundai Motors ( ) and commonly known as Hyundai (, ; ), is a South Korean multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, and founded in 1967. Currently, the company o ...
began to export vehicles to Turkey in 1990 and constructed an automobile factory in İzmit in 1995. The trade volume between the two countries was only $8,000 U.S. dollars in 1965; in 1970 it increased to $59,000; in 1980 it was already $63 million; in 1990 it neared to $515 million; in 2007 it was over $4 billion US dollars. The defense industry cooperation also increased between the two countries. Starting in 1980s. Korean firms lead several Turkish defense programs including the manufacturing of the
T-155 Fırtına T-155 Fırtına ( Turkish for ''Storm'') is a Turkish variant of K9 Thunder 155 mm self-propelled howitzer co-developed with South Korea utilizing Turkish technology and design into existing K9 Thunder. It is manufactured and assembled by Turkish ...
howitzers and a main battle tank, and training aircraft worth billions of dollars. More recently South Korean and Turkish construction firms came together to build
Çanakkale 1915 Bridge Çanakkale (pronounced ), ancient ''Dardanellia'' (), is a city and seaport in Turkey in Çanakkale province on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. The population of the city is 195,439 (2021 estimate). Çanakkale is ...
, a , $2.8 billion suspension bridge to span the Dardanelles, Turkey. The
Export–Import Bank of Korea The Export–Import Bank of Korea, also commonly known as the Korea Eximbank (KEXIM), is the official export credit agency of South Korea.
will provide the export credit agency portion of the financing for the project.


Military cooperation

The Altay tank, a newly military tank of the Turkish Armed Forces, was supported by
Hyundai Rotem Hyundai Rotem (founded in 1977) is a South Korean company that manufactures rolling stock, defense products and plant equipment. It is a part of the Hyundai Motor Group. Its name was changed from Rotem to Hyundai Rotem in December 2007 to refl ...
with technical support and assistance.


Sports

After the third place match at the
2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...
, South Korean and Turkish football players celebrated together and showed exemplary images of friendship and fair play. The flags of both nations were seen side by side on the stands and both teams' players saluted the crowds arm in arm, creating a friendly atmosphere that continued long after the match.Turkish media says thanks
/ref>


See also

*
Foreign relations of South Korea South Korea maintains diplomatic relations with 191 countries. The country has also been a member of the United Nations since 1991, when it became a member state at the same time as North Korea. South Korea has also hosted major internation ...
*
Foreign relations of Turkey Physically bridging Europe and Asia, Turkey is a secular country that has pursued a Western-oriented foreign policy.Robins, Philip. Turkey and the Middle East. London: Royal Institute of International Affairs and New York: Council on Foreign R ...
* List of ambassadors of Turkey to South Korea


References


Further reading

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External links


South Korean embassy, AnkaraTurkish Embassy in Seoul
{{DEFAULTSORT:South Korea-Turkey relations Turkey Bilateral relations of Turkey