“Korea is my 8^th place of posting as a diplomat. Including short visits, I have been to more than 100 countries. However, there is only one country that I voluntarily opted to come to for a posting, and that is Korea”.  

The tone of Ambassador of India Vishnu Prakash was warm and passionate, when speaking about his impressions of Korea. His passion for Korea began in 1990s during the Asian financial crisis. Ambassador Prakash, then posted in Japan, heard about Korean women donating their gold to help revive the country’s economy.  

“To be honest I was not able to believe it – but it was true, after all.” 

The news came as a surprise to ambassador Prakash.  

“India is the world’s biggest gold importer, buying 800 to 1,000 tons of gold every year from abroad. Indian women have more than 20,000 tons of gold. An Indian woman would never give up gold! My wife often jokes – You can take my husband but not my gold.”  

Ambassador noted that because there was this strong determination of Korean people, Korea became the first country to overcome the financial crisis in Asia.  

‘Tremendous energy’, in particular, is what the ambassador Prakash thinks is special about Korea. “Korea is energetic in every sphere including politics, economy, society and culture.”  

“Korean people have this determination and eagerness to be front-runners. The ppa-li ppa-li culture reflects that well. Koreans are also among the most diligent people in the world.”  

Some sceptics have expressed their concerns over excessive working hours in Korea, but the Ambassador noted, “Korea is already in process of change. A five-day workweek system is in place, and the family time the workers spend with their loved ones is increasing.”  

There are many striking similarities that India and Korea share, including a strong passion for education. “Korea built a remarkable edifice of educational institutions emerging from the ashes of the Korean War. Korea’s achievement in education is among the factors that helped the country to grow this fast,” said the ambassador.  

India too is benefitting from its passion for education including in the IT field. “Every year, a pool of 1 million engineers is being added in India” said Ambassador. Indian engineers have proved themselves in every corner of the globe. Now, there are many Indian engineers working in Korea as the Ambassador said, “Samsung Electronics has 54,000 engineers around the world of which 12,000 are Indians.” 

According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, India is home to more than a 1.2 billion population as of July 2013. Its middle class grew rapidly since early 2000 when the Indian economy started to expand fast.  

“By 2030, the size of middle class in India is expected to reach 600 million, providing the largest market in the world,” said Ambassador Prakash.  

As the Indian market expands, the trade between India and Korea grew from $ 4 billion in 2003 to $ 16.1 billion in November 2013, according to Korean Customs Service.  

However, there are also some gaps to be met. In 2013, Korean exports to India amounted to $ 10.4 billion whereas imports from India were $ 5.7 billion – which means a $ 4.7 billion trade deficit for India.  

“Trade deficit is one of the challenges that the Indian economy faces now”, said Gwak Chang-ho, executive director at POSRI at India Forum held in Korea International Trade Association.  

Annual trade deficit of India amounts to $ 196 billion. Gwak said that, since 20% of India’s trade deficit comes from China, “The sentiment between Indian companies towards China is not very good.”  

“To address the issue of balance of trade, we need to be more responsive to Indian companies who are seeking business opportunities in the IT service market in Korea.”  

Direct investment in India from Korea is rather limited. Since 2008, the Korean investments in India started to be outpaced by FDI from other nations. In 1990s, Korea ranked 4^th in terms of FDI in India. Now in 2013, it slipped to 13^th with total investment of $1.2 billion – One-tenth of Japanese investments.  

Yet the Ambassador sees a bright future in economic cooperation between India and Korea. “Korea’s investment in India will gradually increase.”  

Ambassador Prakash pointed out a series of sizable investments proposed to be made by Korean companies. Among them was POSCO, which is working on a project to build a steel plant in India with $12 billion investment – the largest single FDI into India. Also, KOTRA will build an industrial park exclusively for Korean companies, in an area of 250 acres in Rajasthan, near New Delhi. The land will be provided to interested Korean companies at 10 – 25% cheaper rates, which will attract more Korean investment to India.  

The answer to closer cooperation between the two countries may be found in an unexpected field – films. India is the world’s biggest film producer, with more than 1,200 films being released every year. The film industry of India is growing at 9% annually and its size is expected to be $ 3 billion in 2014.  

“Of course, it is not that every single film is good – it is just like Hollywood where there are good movies as well as not so good ones,” said Ambassador Prakash.  

“However, Indian movies have considerable appeal and strengths. Above all, there are very talented actors and excellent scripts. Social messages are often well embedded in the storyline. ‘Three Idiots’ was a very successful film, to which everyone whether Indians, Koreans or Chinese could relate to. It is about young people who face huge educational pressures, competition and struggle to chart out a career path.”  

Ambassador Prakash is holding Indian film festivals in Korea whenever there is an opportunity to promote Indian films. Further, he is looking into possibilities of “joint film production between Korean and Indian companies.”  

“The Korean ambassador in India and I, have been discussing this matter. In India, a successful movie is seen by 200 million viewers. Joint film production will provide an opportunity to introduce Korea to many more Indian people.”  

Films can provide another cultural link between India and Korea. Ambassador Prakash said, “Korean movies and drama are popular in the north-east India. People dress like Koreans stars.” Still, more efforts must be made to introduce the “K-wave” to the rest of India. “Indian film makers are going everywhere including Europe, America, Australia, Japan, for filming at interesting locales. They yearn for exotic places. Korean governments and concerned organisations may try to contact them and attract them to shoot here in Korea.”

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