Israel–South Korea Relations

Israel–South Korea relations combine a long-running diplomatic connection with substantial growth in trade, research, and defense links. Though formal relations date to 1962, early ties were restrained, and South Korea’s commercial relationships across the Middle East affected how quickly it engaged with Israel. Since the 1990s, commercial exchanges, visits, formal agreements, and military cooperation have broadened the relationship.[1][2]

A central theme is the complementarity often identified between the two economies: Israeli technology and research capabilities have connected with South Korean manufacturing, infrastructure, and global marketing.[5] The relationship now has institutional supports that include a bilateral free-trade agreement and the Korea-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation.[9][10] Security cooperation, including defense exports and joint industrial work, forms another important strand.[5] Tourism, academic activity, and cultural exchange connect the countries beyond government and business.[11][5]

The partnership has not removed political differences. South Korea’s past caution toward Israel, disputes over the territorial scope of trade benefits, and disagreements during the Gaza war illustrate the persistence of political tensions. They coexist with continuing commercial and security engagement rather than replacing it.[7][8]

The countries’ relationship predates formal diplomatic ties. During the Korean War of 1950–1953, Israel debated whether to join the United Nations coalition with troops. The National Library of Israel account says the young state declined to send soldiers because the War of Independence had recently ended and its military was overstretched; it also lacked the capacity to contribute financially, given the condition of its economy. Israel instead provided South Korea with $100,000 worth of food and medicine, which the account estimates at roughly $1.4 million in value at the time it was written.[2] Former South Korean ambassador Young-sam Ma later said, “We Koreans appreciate the sincere help of Israel [then].”[2]

Israel’s response to the war also involved diplomatic activity. In July 1950, the cabinet and Knesset debated how Israel should respond. The National Library account says the Israeli Communist Party, Maki, advocated support for North Korea, while the government opposed aggression and voted with the United States against the communist bloc. Israel’s position marked a departure from its earlier non-alignment, according to that account.[2] A separate commentary characterizes Israel’s choice as support for the United States, the United Nations, and South Korea, while noting opposition within the governing coalition to dispatching an Israel Defense Forces unit.[5]

In late 1950 and early January 1951, Israeli diplomats Abba Eban and Gideon Raphael, together with visiting Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett, worked on a seven-point proposal intended to end the war. Israel was appointed to a 14-member Peace Observation Commission to monitor the Korea crisis and other trouble spots, but the commission was not sent to the peninsula. After objections to Israel’s association with the proposal, Norway sponsored it. The UN General Assembly approved the resulting resolution, but China withdrew its support and the resolution died. The account describes the initiative as a basis for armistice negotiations, not as the cause of the eventual armistice.[2]

Israel officially recognized South Korea on 9 July 1961. An account of the diplomatic initiative says Foreign Minister Golda Meir proposed full relations to South Korean Foreign Minister Choi Dok Shin during the 1961 UN General Assembly; South Korean President Park Chung Hee endorsed the step. The governments announced the establishment of diplomatic relations simultaneously in Seoul and Jerusalem on 10 April 1962, and an Israeli government account says they exchanged ambassadors that year.[5][12] South Korea did not initially establish an embassy in Israel, citing budget constraints, while Israel’s embassy in Seoul supported cooperation in areas including agriculture, water, education, and security industries.[5]

Early contacts included the purchase of the Israeli Uzi submachine gun by the South Korean army, a 1966 visit to Korea by Israeli Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin, and visits to Israel by South Korean agricultural and military delegations, according to a historical account.[5] Relations nevertheless remained low-profile for years. A strategic study links this in part to limited shared political and economic interests and to Seoul’s concern that closer ties could affect its economic relationships in the Middle East.[1]

Israel closed its embassy in Seoul in 1978, according to several accounts, while diplomatic relations themselves continued. The sources give varying explanations and descriptions of the period. One study attributes the closure to budget cuts and disagreement over South Korea’s restrictions on relations with Israel, and says Seoul’s concerns about wider Middle Eastern trade contributed to the delay in reopening.[1] The National Library of Israel account connects the closure to South Korea’s strong orientation toward the Arab world after Arab oil embargoes.[2] A Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs commentary says Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan gave budgetary reasons, placing the decision in the context of South Korean economic activity in Arab oil-producing countries and support for Arab positions on the Middle East conflict; it also describes the consequences as harmful to Israel, an interpretation presented by that author.[5]

The embassy closure did not amount to a severing of diplomatic relations. The JCFA account says Israel’s ambassador to Japan served concurrently as nonresident ambassador to South Korea.[5] An account of the subsequent reopening says South Korean officials initially resisted restoring the embassy, concerned that doing so could jeopardize economic ties with Arab countries and affect relations with North Korea. Following the 1991 Gulf War and regional political changes, South Korea approved reopening the Israeli embassy on 7 November 1991; it reopened in January 1992. South Korea’s embassy in Tel Aviv opened in December 1993.[5]

The sources do not agree on every date associated with the Seoul embassy. The Begin-Sadat Center study and Encyclopedia.com describe the closure as occurring in 1978 and the reopening in 1992.[1][13] A 2010 Jerusalem Post report instead says the embassy opened in 1968, closed in 1972, and reopened in January 1992.[14] The material therefore supports the broad sequence of an embassy being closed and later reopened, but does not reconcile all reported opening and closure dates.

South Korea’s caution toward high-level engagement was also visible in visits. The strategic study says South Korean leaders avoided visits to Israel for decades because of concern about repercussions for Seoul’s relations in the Middle East.[1] In 1993, South Korea’s science and technology minister made the first ministerial visit to Israel and signed agreements with Israel’s Ministry of Science, the aircraft industry, and the Weizmann Institute.[5] Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin visited South Korea from 14 to 17 December 1994 and met President Kim Young-sam. The two signed a cultural agreement and an arrangement for direct air traffic when passenger volumes warranted it. A scientific and technological cooperation agreement had been signed the previous month, and the countries mutually cancelled entry-visa requirements in March 1995.[5]

Further official visits and agreements followed. Benjamin Netanyahu visited South Korea in 1997, and South Korean Prime Minister Kim Young-pil visited Israel in 1999. Accounts of the period also record agreements on import duties, technology, agriculture, and investment.[5] In 2010, Shimon Peres became the first Israeli president to visit South Korea. He travelled with ministers, business representatives, and a delegation of about 60 business leaders, met President Lee Myung-bak, and sought to advance political, defense, and economic ties.[14] President Reuven Rivlin visited in July 2019 at President Moon Jae-in’s invitation; the visit included memorandums of understanding on energy and education and a call to expand economic cooperation.[6][15]

Trade expanded markedly after the relationship began to open in the early 1990s. The Begin-Sadat Center study says that South Korea’s diplomatic and economic “embargo” on Israel partially ended with the start of the Middle East peace process, and that South Korean companies began exporting to Israel and opening local branches. It identifies Rabin’s 1994 visit as a contributor to improved economic relations.[1] A separate account reports that reciprocal trade grew sixfold, from $148 million in 1990 to about $1 billion in 2000, with South Korean vehicles and cellular telephones gaining substantial shares of Israeli import markets and Israeli exports of manufactured goods and security items increasing. South Korea also began permitting imports of Israeli citrus fruit and other agricultural products.[5]

The BESA study reports trade totals of $4.821 billion in 1990–1999 and $14.409 billion in 2000–2012. Its separate table gives totals of $131 million in 1980–84, $32 million in 1985–89, $674 million in 1990–94, $4.147 billion in 1995–99, $4.910 billion in 2000–04, $9.499 billion in 2005–11, and $2.361 billion in 2012.[1] These figures come from the study’s own tabulation and use period groupings that should be read as reported there. A 2019 analysis put bilateral trade and investment in 2018 at a then-record $2.7 billion.[7] A separate report on 2018 trade gave a figure of NIS 2.6 billion, or about $734.8 million, and described year-on-year growth of 20%; the sources use different measures and do not explain the discrepancy.[6]

The two governments announced in May 2016 that they would begin free-trade negotiations.[15] Negotiations concluded in August 2019 after three years.[16] The agreement was signed on 12 May 2021.[9] South Korea ratified it in September 2022, and it entered into force on 1 December 2022.[4] It was described as Israel’s first free-trade agreement with an Asian country.[3] Its stated aims include reducing obstacles to trade in goods and services, facilitating their movement, promoting fair competition, and increasing investment opportunities. It also provides for technological cooperation, including joint research and technology transfer, in fields such as cybersecurity, medicine, renewable energy, agriculture, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology.[9]

The agreement provides for reciprocal tariff reductions on a broad range of products. More than 95% of Israeli exports to South Korea became eligible for duty-free treatment, including electrical and mechanical equipment, fertilizers, medical devices, cosmetics, plastics, fruit juices, and wine. Israeli tariffs on certain South Korean imports were to fall to zero, including the 7% duty on automobiles and a 12% duty on industrial refrigerators and freezers; other reported examples included a 4% duty on soy sauce.[4] The agreement also covers services, investment, and standards. When it was signed, a report estimated that it could save Israeli consumers about NIS 500 million annually; a later report put expected annual benefits to exporters, importers, and consumers at the same amount.[3][4]

Reported bilateral trade figures have continued to rise, though sources vary by year and by whether they count goods alone or goods and services. Trade in goods and services was reported at about $3.5 billion in 2021, around 35% above 2020.[4][17] The National Library of Israel reported bilateral trade of $3 billion in 2025.[2] A 2019 analysis said trade and investment together reached $2.7 billion in 2018, and identified prospective tariff reductions on South Korean automobiles, LED screens, refrigerators, and mobile phones, as well as lower South Korean customs duties on Israeli products.[7]

The agreement’s territorial scope became a point of dispute during negotiations. Reports said it excluded goods and services from the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights from its benefits. The Jewish Virtual Library likewise says the agreement does not apply to East Jerusalem, the West Bank, or the Golan Heights.[18][15] A 2019 analysis by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies emphasized this exclusion and compared it with South Korea’s trade agreements involving other countries in territorial disputes; that comparison is the analysis’s account, not an adjudication of territorial questions.[7]

News reports on the negotiations describe disagreement over whether products from Israeli communities in these areas should receive the agreement’s benefits. South Korea sought their exclusion, while Economy Minister Eli Cohen denied that Israel had accepted that demand; Israeli officials said South Korea could withhold benefits from such products and Israel would compensate affected businesses.[18] An August 2019 account also reported that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit characterized the ceremony as marking completed negotiations rather than a binding agreement and said the territorial decision was political, not legal.[16] These reports describe the negotiating positions and the agreement’s reported scope; they do not resolve the underlying political and legal disputes.

Technology cooperation is a major feature of bilateral economic ties. The BESA study identifies research-and-development cooperation involving Samsung, LG, and POSCO in Israel, and says Israel was the only Middle Eastern country in which South Korean conglomerates had opened R&D centers. It reports that then-President Park Geun-hye cited Israel’s “Startup Nation” as a model for South Korea’s efforts to prioritize research and startups, while cautioning that the cooperation remained limited compared with South Korean trade with Persian Gulf states.[1]

The countries established a joint industrial R&D fund in 2001. The Korea-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation (KORIL-RDF) was created through an agreement between South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Israel Innovation Authority. Its purpose is to support collaborative industrial research by companies in both countries, encourage technological innovation, and strengthen economic and trade relations. Each country contributes $4 million annually; grants can reach $5 million per project and may cover up to half of direct R&D expenses. Grants are subject to repayment based on commercial revenues generated by resulting products, which must have civilian applications and be market-oriented.[10]

The fund’s early projects included a digital wireless video system, optical translation services for Korean, and a vehicle-tracking system using short-range communication.[5] At the time of the 2021 free-trade agreement signing, the countries also renewed and doubled the KORIL-RDF fund.[3] Later reporting describes bilateral technology activity in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, semiconductors, mobility, defense, and quantum computing. A 2025 account says South Korea’s government had jointly invested $77 million in 196 bilateral technology projects, including $18 million in robotics and AI in 2023; it also reports that the South Korean ambassador referred to an $80 million fund initiated during the preceding year.[19]

Private-sector cooperation has included commercial technology and infrastructure. A 2006 account describes Israeli strengths in computers, telecommunications components, electronics, electro-optics, biotechnology, and security technologies, alongside South Korean strengths in manufacturing, marketing, workforce, and infrastructure. It lists Israeli exports such as microchips, telephone components, software, security equipment, and chemicals, and South Korean exports such as passenger cars, spare parts, electrical appliances, and cellular telephones. Examples included South Korean phones sold in Israel containing Israeli components and Israeli electro-optical equipment used in South Korean satellites.[5]

That historical account also names Israeli companies active in South Korea in irrigation, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and telecommunications, and South Korean firms involved in Israeli infrastructure projects, including a power station for the Dead Sea Works and a coal-unloading jetty near the Rotenberg power station in Ashkelon. It describes an Israeli company’s partnership with Samsung on a South Korean data-communications project; these are examples from the period covered by the article, not a current inventory of business activity.[5]

In 2015, Israel Aerospace Industries and South Korean manufacturer Hankuk Carbon signed a memorandum of understanding to manufacture vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicles for domestic sales in South Korea.[15] In June 2024, the Friendship Fund and Israel’s embassy established South Korea’s first Israel studies center at Seoul National University. Its stated purpose is to support research on Judaism, Israeli history, economy, and society.[15]

Defense ties developed alongside commercial relations, though the scope of cooperation has been shaped by the countries’ alliances and political interests. A 1970s Israel Defense Forces course in Israel for South Korean military officers is one early example; one participant later became a national security adviser to a South Korean president.[1] The BESA study also reports that South Korea bought the Israeli Spike missile to address North Korean attacks and that Israel ultimately selected Italian aircraft rather than South Korea’s T-50 trainer.[1]

A 2012 account describes South Korea’s 2009 decision to buy Israeli Green Pine Block-B radar systems in a deal valued at $215 million, followed by additional radar deals in 2010 and a $43 million purchase of Spike NLOS anti-tank rockets.[20] During Rivlin’s 2019 visit, South Korea’s procurement agency awarded IAI subsidiary ELTA a contract for two long-range warning systems, estimated at $292 million; the report also noted South Korea’s earlier acquisition of two Israeli radar systems in 2009, valued at $280 million.[6] The BESA study identifies U.S. policy, South Korea’s alliance with the United States, and domestic political and economic interests as constraints on the potential scale of defense cooperation.[1]

A 2025 report describes a long-running arms relationship since the 1990s and lists Israeli systems acquired by South Korea, including radars, Spike missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and loitering munitions.[21] In September 2025, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem signed a strategic teaming agreement concerning Israel’s TROPHY active-protection system for South Korea’s K2 main battle tank and future platforms. The framework covers integration, production, marketing, and support, and followed an earlier memorandum of understanding connected to South Korea’s active-protection-system program.[21]

Security issues have also featured in diplomatic discussions. During a 2019 visit to Seoul, an American Jewish Committee delegation met Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, other South Korean officials, and Israel’s ambassador. Its discussions included bilateral ties, U.S.–South Korea relations, Iran-related energy issues, and North Korea’s nuclear program and weapons and technology exports to the Middle East. The organization said it had made its sixth visit to Seoul in five years.[22] In 1997, Prime Minister Netanyahu described cooperation on information about the movement of ballistic and other missile technologies to and from North Korea and the Middle East.[23]

Cultural and educational contacts have accompanied official relations. A 1994 cultural agreement and the subsequent cancellation of mutual entry-visa requirements helped provide a formal basis for contact, while the two governments also signed agreements on science and technology, agriculture, and other areas.[5] A 2006 account reports Korean performances at the Israel Festival and Jerusalem Festival, Korean films shown in Israel, and support from the Korea Fund for Korean studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It also records 15,000 South Korean visitors to Israel in 2001, many of them Christian pilgrims; those figures describe the period covered by that article.[5]

The National Library of Israel describes South Korean interest in Jewish commitment to education and family, and in translations of the Talmud as a window into Jewish scholarship. It also reports that former South Korean ambassador Young-sam Ma arranged for several Korean books to be translated into Hebrew while serving in Israel.[2] In 2024, the Seoul National University Israel studies center was established to promote research on Judaism and Israeli history, economy, and society, adding an academic institution to the wider exchange.[15]

Tourism figures reflect the growth of people-to-people contact. The American Jewish Committee reported in 2024 that more than 60,000 Korean tourists visit Israel annually.[11] A separate report said about 45,000 South Korean tourists visited Israel in 2018.[6] In 2019, during a visit to South Korea, Rivlin described his purpose as building “a new bridge between Jerusalem and Seoul,” while promoting trade and broader contacts with Korean officials and businesspeople.[6]

The relationship’s development illustrates how political caution can coexist with expanding practical cooperation. The countries moved from limited contacts and a period of reduced diplomatic representation to a wide-ranging framework of trade, industrial research, technology projects, tourism, and security links. The 2021 free-trade agreement provides a formal mechanism for commercial and technological collaboration.[3][9] The KORIL-RDF fund supports bilateral industrial research, while defense projects show the strategic dimension of the partnership.[10][21]

Some commentary presents the countries as natural partners because both emerged after the Second World War as small states facing powerful neighbors, later developed advanced economies, and became important U.S. allies; it identifies North Korea as a shared security concern. This is the authors’ framing of similarities and their relevance to bilateral relations, rather than a formal description of government policy.[24] The actual relationship, as reflected in the documented record, is shaped not only by these perceived affinities but also by trade priorities, regional diplomacy, procurement choices, and differences over political issues.[1][25]

Economic and security cooperation has continued to produce new projects, including the 2025 Rafael–Hyundai Rotem agreement and bilateral investment in technology research.[19][21] At the same time, the territorial provisions of the free-trade agreement and disagreements over Israel’s conduct during the Gaza war demonstrate that closer economic ties do not eliminate political friction.[7][2]

Political considerations have repeatedly influenced the pace and tone of bilateral ties. The BESA study links South Korea’s earlier reticence to concern that close relations with Israel might affect its economic relationships in the Middle East, while the National Library of Israel account connects the 1978 Israeli embassy closure to Seoul’s orientation toward the Arab world after oil embargoes.[1][2] A 2018 report on South Korea’s refusal of a proposed Rivlin state visit described competing Israeli assessments: some officials suspected frustration with Israeli defense procurement decisions and its response to inter-Korean diplomacy, while others thought Seoul was focused on negotiations with North Korea. Israeli Foreign Ministry officials said the refusal did not indicate a bilateral crisis and pointed to security ties, direct Korean Air flights, and progress toward a free-trade agreement.[25]

South Korea also voted in December 2017 for a UN General Assembly resolution condemning U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, as reported in the same account.[25] The free-trade negotiations later involved a dispute about whether products from Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights would be included. The agreement’s reported territorial exclusions became a continuing source of political disagreement, even as the governments concluded the wider trade framework.[18][16]

The relationship has also seen sharp disagreements over the Gaza war. The National Library of Israel reports that South Korean President Lee Jae Myung strongly criticized Israel during the war, illustrating that political disagreement persisted alongside commercial and security cooperation.[2] In April 2026, Lee’s social-media comments comparing wartime killings with the Holocaust prompted a public dispute. Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned the remarks. Lee later acknowledged that the video on which he had commented dated from September 2024 and said Israel had investigated the incident. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun subsequently said a senior Israeli official had accepted Seoul’s explanation and that the matter was resolved.[8] The account records the parties’ differing characterizations of a politically and historically sensitive episode.