On Thursday, October 22, 2026, the Sejong Institute co-hosted a Korea-Australia-India trilateral cooperation roundtable with the Australia India Institute (AII) at the University of Melbourne.
The event was organized on the occasion of the publication of the report The Strategic Imperative for the Australia-India-Republic of Korea Partnership, which AII produced with the support of the Korea Foundation (KF). Government officials and experts from the three countries shared the report’s key findings and policy recommendations, and discussed the potential for cooperation in areas such as economic security, advanced technology, and maritime affairs, as well as the policy and institutional challenges involved in realizing it.
The event was moderated overall by Dr. Yoon-Jung Choi, Principal Research Fellow at the Sejong Institute.
The main program was as follows.
Welcome Remarks
- Seong-Chang Cheong, Vice President, Sejong Institute
- Michael Wesley, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Melbourne
Strategic Session: The Strategic Imperative for Trilateral Cooperation
Chair: Michael Wesley, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Melbourne
Remarks:
- Sang-Woo Lim, Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Gourangalal Das, Ambassador of India to the Republic of Korea
- Martin Walker, Deputy Head of Mission, Australian Embassy in Seoul
Roundtable Discussion: The Strategic Context of Trilateral Cooperation
Co-chairs:
- Yoon Jung Choi, Principal Research Fellow, Sejong Institute
- Grace Corcoran, Research Fellow, Australia India Institute
Following Research Fellow Grace Corcoran’s presentation of the report’s key findings, participants engaged in an in-depth discussion on sector-specific cooperation measures and implementation challenges.
Key Participants
- Rebekah Byers, First Secretary (Defence), Australian Embassy, Seoul
- Seong-Chang Cheong, Vice President, Sejong Institute
- Suon Choi, Research Fellow, Korea Institute for Defence Analyses
- Yoon Jung Choi, Principal Research Fellow, Sejong Institute
- Grace Corcoran, Research Fellow, Australia India Institute
- Gourangalal Das, Ambassador of India to the Republic of Korea
- Alexander M. Hynd, Lecturer, Asia Institute, University of Melbourne
- Hyeonung Kim, Senior Program Officer, Korea Foundation
- Kyunghoon Kim, Head, India and South Asia Team, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy
- Tae-Hyung Kim, Professor, Soongsil University
- Chansong C. Lee, Research Fellow, Center for Security Strategy, Sejong Institute
- Jaehyon Lee, Principal Fellow, Asan Institute for Policy Studies
- Sang-Woo Lim, Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea
- Sandip Kumar Mishra, Professor, Centre for East Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Sooyeon Pae, Senior Research Officer (Political), Australian Embassy, Seoul
- Jae Jeok Park, Professor, Graduate School of International Studies, Yonsei University
- Joel Petersson Ivre, Senior Policy Fellow, Asia-Pacific Leadership Network
- Naman Upadhyaya, First Secretary (Political), Embassy of India, Seoul
- Martin Walker, Minister and Deputy Head of Mission, Australian Embassy, Seoul
- Michael Wesley, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global, Culture and Engagement), University of Melbourne
- Joonkoo Yoo, Senior Research Fellow, Center for Security Strategy, Sejong Institute