Korean interests in the Straits of Malacca

(Day Thirty of the Korean Ministry of of Information and Communications ban)

NOTE: This is a Yangban time-delayed post

I recently read an article by Barrett Bingley, a Visiting Fellow at the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, about security issues in the Straits of Malacca. The article, U.S. interests in Malacca Straits was originally printed in the Jakarta Post. Unfortunately, I can't find a link to it (if some reader has a link, please share it).

I wrote to Mr Bingley asking about Korean interest and involvement in the Straits of Malacca and he was kind enough to send two articles that mention Korea and the Straits. Again, I have no links but you can read them at the end of this post. I thank Mr Bingley for the help.

Background: What are the Straits of Malacca?
The Straits of Malacca (between Malaysia and Indonesia and near Singapore) connect the Indian and Pacific Oceans and are the main route for, among other things, most of East Asia's oil supplies. It is the key strategic choke point in Asia and keeping it open is vital for the world economy. Korea imports all of the 2.1 million barrels of oil per day that it consumes and most of it comes through Malacca. Clearly, Korea has a vital interest in keeping the straits open. But the straits are vulnerable:

The narrowest point of this shipping lane is the Phillips Channel in the Singapore Strait, which is only 1.5 miles wide at its narrowest point. This creates a natural bottleneck, with the potential for a collision, grounding, or oil spill (in addition, piracy is a regular occurrence in the Singapore Strait). If the strait were closed, nearly half of the world's fleet would be required to sail further, generating a substantial increase in the requirement for vessel capacity. All excess capacity of the world fleet might be absorbed, with the effect strongest for crude oil shipments and dry bulk such as coal. Closure of the Strait of Malacca would immediately raise freight rates worldwide.

So, if the Straits were closed, Korea would take a double hit as oil prices would rise and the increased cost of shipping would damage Korea's export-driven economy. Click here for more information of Korea's energy situation.

What is Korea's involvement in the Straits of Malacca?
So far, Korea has not been involved much in the Straits but that may change as Korea begins to address its security needs beyond defending itself from a North Korean attack. Singapore and Japan have been advocating greater defense coordination among nations with an interest in keeping the Straits open. Singapore has even directly asked Korea for greater involvement in the Straits:

"One of the major issues which we will discuss with South Korea is involvement in maritime security," Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan the World Economic Forum in Seoul. "The Singapore armed forces has interactions with the Korean military from time to time. We hope to expand and deepen these interactions.

"If there is a terrorist attack, it will have enormous repercussions to Japan, South Korea and the world," he said. "It's not the frequency of piracy. The problem is that these attacks are becoming more sophisticated."

(See bottom of the post for article.)

What will Korea do?
The same strategic logic that has increased Korea's involvement in the Middle East should dictate that they will eventually increase their involvement in the Straits of Malacca in cooperation with local governments and Japan.

However, the United States has already expressed a willingness or even desire to help defend the Straits. This brings up the problem of defense freeloading. If America will put its own funds and possibly blood into defending the Straits, why would Korea feel the need to get involved. On the other hand, if America is doing the bulk of the defending, then it gets to call the shots. This is the same dilemma facing Europe and Japan.

I think that Singapore's moves towards Korea are a way of avoiding that dilemma. If several powers (including the US) make relatively small contributions to defending the Straits, then Singapore can have more leverage on how that defense is conducted.

It will be interesting to see what Korea will do about it.

Copyright 2004 Commonwealth Business Media Journal of Commerce Online

June 16, 2004, Wednesday

SECTION: OCEAN TRANSPORTATION and PORTS/INTERMODAL; Pg. WP

LENGTH: 311 words

HEADLINE: Singapore calls for wider Malacca security

BYLINE: BY P.T. BANGSBERG - THE JOURNAL OF COMMERCE ONLINE

BODY:
Singapore hopes to include South Korea, India and other nations in plans to improve security on the critical Malacca Strait waterway. "One of the major issues which we will discuss with South Korea is involvement in maritime security," Deputy Prime Minister Tony Tan the World Economic Forum in Seoul. "The Singapore armed forces has interactions with the Korean military from time to time. We hope to expand and deepen these interactions.

"If there is a terrorist attack, it will have enormous repercussions to Japan, South Korea and the world," he said. "It's not the frequency of piracy. The problem is that these attacks are becoming more sophisticated."

The strait, flanked by Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, handles half the world's oil traffic and a third of global trade, Tan said. About 80 percent of the oil used by Japan comes from the Middle East via the waterway.

Japan and Singapore have repeatedly called for wider cooperation among countries with an interest in Malacca Strait security.

Tan, who is also Singapore's defense chief, said the island will discuss the issue again with Malaysia, which has rejected the idea of active U.S. participation in Malacca patrols.

Malaysia Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak "has indicated that Malaysia is open to discussions with the U.S. and with other countries, including Singapore, on how to enhance security in Strait," Tan said.

He said Najib will hold discussions with U.S. Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, this month on how they can work with the U.S. and later on with Japan, South Korea and India, in order to strengthen maritime security.

Najib reiterated last week that Malaysia doesn't want a U.S. or other foreign military presence in Southeast Asia in the fight against terrorism, but is prepared to work with Washington on sharing intelligence.

Copyright 2004 MCN International Pte Ltd.
All Rights Reserved
Channel NewsAsia

June 14, 2004 Monday

SECTION: ASIA PACIFIC

LENGTH: 290 words

HEADLINE: Singapore urges S. Korea to help boost regional maritime security

BODY:
SEOUL : Singapore wants to work more closely with South Korea to keep the regional waterways safe, said visiting Co-ordinating Minister for Defence and Security Tony Tan.

Dr Tan, who is also Singapore deputy prime minister, has had a series of talks with South Korean defence chiefs about stepping up bilateral maritime exercises.

He warned that pirate attacks in the region are getting more sophisticated.

Many countries have a vested interest in maritime security in regional waterways like the Malacca Strait.

Apart from the littoral states, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, about half the world's oil supplies sail through the narrow channel on the way to markets in Japan, China and South Korea.

So Dr Tan has urged South Korea to help boost maritime security.

"The Singapore armed forces has interactions with the Korean military from time to time. We hope to expand and deepen these interactions," said Dr Tan.

"If there is a terrorist attack, it will have enormous repercussions to Japan, South Korea and the world. It's not the frequency of piracy. The problem is that these attacks are becoming more sophisticated."

South Korea, which is also very concerned, has said it is willing to take part in talks to resolve this issue.

On Singapore's part, Dr Tan says if the need arises defence spending will be raised.

"At the moment, we don't see any circumstances to make it necessary to go above six percent, but certainly I would expect Singapore to spend heavily on defence and security, partly because of the face that Singapore is located in the turbulent part of the world," he said.

Meanwhile, Singapore and South Korea are also expected to sign a Free Trade Agreement by the end of this year. - CNA