However, curiosity and questions are emerging in the foreign policy community: Why has the President skipped visiting two other crucial East Asian countries – South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, and Japan, the second largest – in nearly a year of his presidency? Prabowo has visited over 20 nations, including the United States, India, Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Australia, as well as ASEAN countries.

Prabowo, who rightly portrays himself as a "foreign policy president", must have strong reasons for seemingly ignoring the two countries. Surprisingly, the Indonesian public appears not to have noticed this rather unusual situation.

Foreign Minister Sugiono met with his South Korean counterpart, Cho Hyun, during a visit to Seoul in August. The two ministers agreed in principle that President Prabowo would travel to South Korea soon, and that President Lee Jae-myung would reciprocate at an appropriate time.

I suggest that the minister remind the President to reconsider his stance, as a prolonged delay could be damaging to Indonesia's relations with both Seoul and Tokyo, which, according to Japanese sources, is also patiently awaiting Prabowo's arrival.

China, Japan and South Korea are the first dialogue partners for the regional grouping under the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation, which held its first annual summit in 1997. They are also members of the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world's most significant, legally binding trade pact, which will hold its first summit in Kuala Lumpur later this year.

Prabowo has not made an official visit to Tokyo or Seoul since he took office in October 2024, though he did visit Japan as president-elect last April. Meanwhile, he has appointed distinguished career diplomat Cecep Irawan, a former Foreign Ministry secretary-general, as Indonesia’s ambassador to South Korea, and Kartini Sjahrir, 75, as Indonesia’s envoy to Japan.

After traveling to Beijing for a state visit last November, Prabowo flew to Washington at the invitation of outgoing president Joe Biden before attending the APEC summit in Peru that same month. On Sept. 3 this year, Prabowo returned to Beijing to attend the Victory Day Parade, though that visit lasted only around eight hours.

China is clearly the priority, a trend seen in many other countries. But President Prabowo probably doesn't realize he has created a significant loophole in his foreign policy, especially concerning sensitive East Asian affairs.

The President hasn't indicated that he will visit Seoul soon, despite massive efforts by the South Korean leadership. This is akin to the Indonesian proverb, "Cinta bertepuk sebelah tangan", meaning unrequited love.

What could be the problem with Seoul and Tokyo? I will speculate here.

First, South Korea experienced a significant political crisis from December 2024 to early June this year due to the impeachment and subsequent ousting of president Yoon Suk-yeol by the Constitutional Court. Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung won the presidential election in June.

Second, also in June, South Korea eventually accepted Indonesia's offer to reduce its financial obligation in the joint KF-21 fighter jet development project to 600 billion won (US$426 million), sharply dropping its share from originally 20 percent to just 7.5 percent of the total project budget of 8.1 trillion won.

This means the financial aspect has been resolved, removing any potential obstacles, perhaps psychological, to resuming normal relations. Prabowo, however, has pledged to purchase military aircraft from France, Turkey and even China, suggesting he might have lost his appetite for the Korean fighter jet, viewing direct purchases as more feasible than joint development.

And what about Japan? Diplomatic sources indicate that Tokyo is still expecting Prabowo to visit, especially since two of its prime ministers, Fumio Kishida and Shigeru Ishiba, have already come to Indonesia. They see no meaningful problems between the two countries, except perhaps that both nations tend to take their relationship for granted.

Last year, the South Korean leadersship launched a diplomatic offensive to persuade Prabowo to visit their country. Then-president Yoon initially assigned then-premier Han Duck-soo to attend Prabowo's inauguration on Oct. 20, and had appointed former industry minister Bang Moon-kyu as ambassador to Indonesia. However, that plan was dropped after President Lee decided to make his own choice.

Yoon visited Indonesia twice: in November 2022 for the Group of 20 Summit in Bali and in September 2023 for the ASEAN Summit in Jakarta.

As for President Lee, soon after taking office in June, he phoned to invite Prabowo for a special visit to Seoul. The two leaders discussed ways to further advance the special strategic partnership established in 2017. Lee also sent his special envoy Cho Jeong-sik for a meeting with Prabowo in Jakarta, where the President assured his guest that a visit to South Korea was in his plan.

I suggest that President Prabowo rearrange his overseas travel and pay state visits to Seoul and Tokyo. He will attend the APEC South Korea Summit 2025 in Gyeongju at the end of October, but that is not for a bilateral purpose.

South Korea and Japan are key economic, investment and trading partners for Indonesia, which is essential to them, too, but not to the extent that they should continue begging for our attention.

In any case, since Prabowo met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Sept. 3 in Beijing, he also has a unique opportunity to brief Lee about his conversation with Kim.

***

The writer is a senior editor at The Jakarta Post.