‘We would prefer Indian goods over Chinese’

South Korea’s Ambassador to India Joon-gyu Lee is bullish about ties between the two countries. He believes the two have come a long way since Buddhism entered the Korean peninsula from India in ancient times.

In the years to come, South Korea and India can develop closer partnership-based cooperation in areas such as nuclear energy, space and manufacturing, Lee told BusinessLine in an exclusive interview.

What are the different investment opportunities South Korea can offer Indian companies?

South Korea’s advanced economy itself is a big advantage — our country’s manufacturing capabilities can be leveraged by Indian companies.

Joint research can also be carried out on manufacturing processes.

Our shipbuilding industry has many opportunities, which Indian companies can tap. Joint ventures in this industry can also be worked out. South Korean experience in chemicals, heavy engineering and even building smart cities can be used by Indian companies.

How you do view the recent success achieved by the Indian space industry?

The Indian space industry is very advanced, and our country is keen to catch up with it.

A good collaboration can also happen in this area. Recently, I visited the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and my attempt is to bring ISRO and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute together.

An MoU has already been signed between the two organisations, and they will decide on the areas of further cooperation.

When I recently visited ISRO, I was fortunate to witness some of the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) operations.

To my surprise, I found that the Mars craft is almost completely manufactured in India.

To make that spacecraft, many advanced technologies have been developed by ISRO, but they need to be commercialised.

This is where South Korean companies can play an important role.

Trade between India and South Korea is heavily in favour of the latter. What can be done to bring about more balanced trade between the two nations?

I am also concerned about the expanding trade imbalance in favour of South Korea.

But it should be kept in mind that a greater part of Indian imports are semi-finished goods, such as electronic and automotive spare parts. They get reassembled in India, and again get re-exported to other countries.

The problem is Indian companies don’t have that many finished goods to be exported to South Korea.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India campaign is a step towards boosting Indian manufacturing industries.

The South Korean Government is keen to participate in that process. If Indian companies can make quality goods, we are ready to buy it. We will prefer Indian goods over Chinese goods.

In July 2011, India had an MoU with the South Korean Government to develop nuclear power. Why has there been no further action on it?

These relations take a lot of time to develop, and in such areas one should not be in a hurry.

My dream is that in a few years both countries could jointly develop nuclear reactors in India, which can be then exported to other countries.

The cooperation in this area has just started and, by December, we will hold new talks with Indian counterparts for further development and research in nuclear areas.

It may take some time, but both countries have great potential in this area too.

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