Cho Tai-young (JP/Seto Wardhana)

Cho Tai-young earned the nickname of “The Singing Ambassador” during his tenure as South Korean Ambassador to Indonesia, which started in 2013, since he has often taken the opportunity to sing mostly Indonesian songs in front of audiences. Prior to the end of his term in the office, Cho — who is to leave Indonesia on Thursday — shared his views with reporter Agnes Anya of The Jakarta Post on the role of Korean songs, drama and youngsters in enhancing South Korea’s ties with Indonesia. The following are excerpts from the interview:

Question: In your opinion, to what extent do youngsters play role in South Korea-Indonesia relations?

Answer: Young Korean people and pop stars have played a very big role in deepening and strengthening relations between Indonesia and South Korea.

I have to admit that Korean artists are a very strong bridge linking the two countries.

I would like to thank Indonesian people, especially youngsters, for loving Korean pop culture and drama.

Often, we think it is a one-way [exchange] while actually we are witnessing two-way exchanges. For example, if you visit YouTube, you can find Korean people enjoying Indonesian songs, like the dangdut songs of Cita Citata: “Sakitnya Tuh Disini” (The Pain is Right Here) and “Goyang Dumang” (The Dumang Dance).

Indonesian pop band Mocca has also performed in South Korea several times.

There is also a movie that was jointly produced by South Korean and Indonesian production houses.

Indonesian food, like nasi goreng (fried rice), is also very popular in South Korea.

Do not think that South Korea is popular in Indonesia, but Indonesia is not popular in South Korea. That is not true.

What have been achieved through the youngsters’ roles in the two countries’ diplomacy?

When we talk about diplomacy, international and bilateral relations, we need to think about people. What is a country? People first.

The people need to be linked first.

Otherwise, we cannot talk about strengthening bilateral ties. Especially the young people, they are more linked through social media.

They play a great role in enhancing people-to-people linkages.

Based on your observation during your service, what have South Korea and Indonesia achieved the most in this time?

First, investment. While I was here, Korean companies made a big investment here. For example, tire company Hankook and the Pohang Iron and Steel Company (Posco).

Pohang came to Indonesia in 2013 and made an investment of about US$3 billion.

After that, they had discussions with their partner [state-owned] Krakatau Steel and agreed to invest more.

Now, they have agreed to expand the production capacity to 10 million tons through a joint venture named Krakatau Posco (KP).

KP is now producing about 3 million tons of steel every year here. For that, Posco has planned to invest more.

So, I could see the increase of South Korean investment in Indonesia by South Korean companies.

Unfortunately, the volume of trade between Indonesia and South Korea has gone down. In 2011, it reached the level of $30 billion; now it is less than $20 billion. So, we need to do our best to push up our trade because two countries can benefit from increasing trade.

Is there any other impressive achievement booked by both countries?

Relations between the two governments have also strengthened. We now have discussions in new areas. For example: counterterrorism, which is important to both of us.

There is no exception. Nobody is free from terrorism.

That is why we need to cooperate. Otherwise, we cannot defeat terrorists.

How does South Korea look at Indonesia in terms of counterterrorism?

In my eyes, Indonesia is very important in that area. Indonesia is a model of a country with moderate Islam that has tolerance toward other religions. In that sense, Indonesia is very important.

Indonesia is playing a big role in fighting against terrorism. The Indonesian government is firmly opposed to terrorism by implementing actions. We would like to continue to have cooperation in this area.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has a New Southern Policy in which ASEAN is involved. To what extent is ASEAN important to South Korea?

ASEAN countries are the most popular destinations for Korean tourists. ASEAN is the second biggest region in terms of Korean outgoing foreign and ingoing investment.

Trade with ASEAN — all 10 countries together — is the second biggest after with China.

ASEAN is important in every sense: trade, investment, people-to-people contact, tourism. All ASEAN countries are growing fast and that is why they are high on our agenda.

What does South Korea want to achieve with this policy?

President Moon was elected in May last year and during the election campaign he announced a written election manifesto. There, he said that he was going to upgrade South Korea’s relations with ASEAN countries and India to the level of our relations with four major countries around the Korean Peninsula: the United States, Russia, Japan, China. He thinks we need to diversify our international relations with foreign countries.

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