Like-Minded Alignments in a Divided World: NATO, South Korea, and the North Korean Challenge

The evolving relationship between NATO and South Korea reflects a profound shift in the dynamics of global security, highlighting the growing interconnectedness of challenges across the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions. This paper examines the strategic alignment between NATO and South Korea, focusing on its implications for managing North Korea's nuclear threat and its broader impact on regional and global security. Since establishing relations in 2005, the NATO-South Korea partnership has expanded significantly, driven by shared values of democracy, human rights, and a commitment to the liberal international order. The partnership has grown particularly salient in the wake of North Korea’s closer ties with Russia, escalating provocations on the Korean Peninsula, and NATO’s strategic pivot toward the Indo-Pacific that was confirmed at the Washington Summit in the Summer 2024. This paper analyzes the NATO-South Korea relationship through the lens of "like-minded alignments," a framework that moves beyond traditional alliances to explore adaptive partnerships rooted in shared challenges and values. It investigates the drivers of this partnership, including the need to counterbalance North Korea's nuclear ambitions and growing military collaboration with Russia. North Korea's supply of weapons to Moscow during the war in Ukraine has further demonstrated the interconnected nature of global security threats, pushing NATO and South Korea closer together. At the same time, President Yoon Suk-Yeol's attempt to take over power via declaring a martial law may discourage NATO members from further collaboration with South Korea, fearing to bringing in a country potentially facing a long-term domestic instability. This paper delves into NATO’s evolving approach to the Indo-Pacific, highlighting how the alliance’s strategic recalibration aims to address transregional threats such as North Korea’s support for Russia. It evaluates South Korea’s role as a key partner in NATO’s AP4 framework, alongside Australia, Japan, and New Zealand, emphasizing the synergy between NATO’s global security objectives and South Korea’s pursuit of a multilateral security architecture. The paper argues that the NATO-South Korea alignment offers a case study in the transformation of international security partnerships. It highlights the significance of aligning democratic states to confront shared threats, from North Korea’s nuclear proliferation to its destabilizing alliance with Russia. The implications of this partnership extend beyond the Korean Peninsula, offering insights into how regional challenges shape global security strategies. This alignment underscores the necessity of a coordinated response to authoritarian actors that challenge the liberal international order, demonstrating the potential of like-minded alignments to adapt to the complexities of an increasingly multipolar world. By exploring the interplay between NATO’s strategic objectives and South Korea’s security priorities, this paper contributes to scholarly debates on alliances, strategic alignments, and the resilience of the liberal international order, with North Korea serving as a critical test case.