Chey Institute, Navy co-host forum on maritime security and South Korea's strategic response

The Chey Institute for Advanced Studies and the Republic of Korea Navy co-hosted a forum titled "When the Sea Shakes, the Nation Shakes: Fractures in the Global Commons Order — What Must South Korea Prepare?" on Tuesday at the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies conference hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, the institute announced Thursday.

Attendees included Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Kim Gyeong-ryul; Jeong Hyung-gon, senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP); Navy Col. Yoo Jae-jun; Kwon Bo-ram, research fellow at KIDA; Kim In-hyeon, emeritus professor at Korea University School of Law; Kim Tae-yoo, emeritus professor of industrial engineering at Seoul National University; and Kim Dong-gyu, editor of PADO.

Participants focused their discussion on how shifts in the international maritime order affect South Korea's economy and security. They agreed that maritime security should be recognized not merely as a military matter but as critical economic infrastructure, and that a pan-government integrated strategy is needed given the stakes for national survival.

In his opening remarks, Adm. Kim said, "South Korea is a quintessential maritime nation that grew through the sea, so when sea lanes are disrupted, the national economy and security inevitably shake with them." He added that the government, industry, academia and the military must work together to develop a maritime security strategy that supports sustainable prosperity.

Jeong, the KIEP senior research fellow, said South Korea's structural economic character is in effect a "maritime economy." "Disruptions to sea lanes are not simply a logistics problem — they simultaneously undermine energy supply, manufacturing production and export competitiveness, making this a matter of national economic security," he said, adding that "sea lanes are the lifeline of South Korea's manufacturing sector."

Jeong also said maritime security "is no longer solely a defense issue but a core economic security variable that determines the sustainability of South Korea's economy," and that maintaining such an institutional foundation is an important national role for the Navy. He called on the government and businesses to build a response framework capable of analyzing supply chain risks in real time and identifying structural vulnerabilities in advance.

Navy Col. Yoo said South Korea must develop a new national strategy as the US-centered international order evolves. "South Korea should not choose between its alliance and strategic autonomy, but instead pursue a 'hybrid strategy' that expands strategic autonomy by strengthening advanced technology and shipbuilding and defense industry capabilities on the foundation of the ROK-US alliance," he said. He also urged the Navy to accelerate development of an AI-based command-and-control system and a Korean-style maritime domain awareness framework.

Kwon, the KIDA research fellow, analyzed the shifting international order through the lens of changing US strategy, saying the Donald Trump administration's recent moves toward imposing transit fees are "not simply a cost issue but a signal that it wants to share the burden of maintaining the maritime order with its allies."

"The era in which the United States unconditionally guaranteed every chokepoint is in effect coming to an end," Kwon said, adding that "a 'hybrid order' in which the United States designs the overall framework while allies and regional states share responsibilities is likely to become the realistic model going forward." She also said South Korea must move beyond being a consumer of the maritime order and expand its role to become a contributor to the provision of global public goods.