Vietnam and South Korea – New Partners in Defense Sphere

The aim of the article is to define characteristics of military cooperation between Vietnam and South Korea and perspectives of its development. The relevance of the topic is due to rising level of Vietnam – South Korea relations and complication of situation in the international security field in the Asia-Pacific region. Defense ties between Hanoi and Seoul are still on the stage of formation and this issue is not completely researched by scholars.The article considers general features of interaction between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea, formation of bilateral dialogue in the defense sphere and key directions of military collaboration. The problems were analyzed in the context of international situation in the region and priority fields of policies of Vietnam and South Korea.The author makes conclusions on the presence of favorable preconditions for bilateral defense cooperation that is stipulated by as high level of relations between the two states so practical interest of Hanoi and Seoul in such interaction. The obstacles for expansion of military collaboration might be distinctions in priorities of foreign policies in Vietnam and South Korea, and also in positions of these states in the regional international order. The Republic of Korea orients for the alliance with Washington, Vietnam tries to balance between the most significant regional actors – the USA and China.

Vietnam, South Korea, Vietnam – South Korea relations, military cooperation, South China Sea