Abstract

In December 2022, Vietnam and South Korea elevated their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. While President Moon Jae-in's New Southern Policy (2017-2022) positioned Vietnam as a significant stakeholder, South Korea’s Indo-Pacific Strategy has also underscored the country’s status as a 'key' partner in its diplomatic agenda. This development has served as a catalyst for elevating bilateral relations, facilitating the diversification of cooperation across multiple spheres. Notably, the defense cooperation has emerged as a focal point for both governments, particularly in promoting multilateralization, diversification, and strengthening the friendship between Vietnam and South Korea. The reality of Vietnam - South Korea defense cooperation (2017 - 2024) reveals that it faced numerous challenges and was not as deeply implemented as cooperation in other domains, such as politics and economics. Despite these challenges, both nations successfully laid crucial foundations and ushered in a new era for the bilateral defense cooperation. This progress has contributed to making the two countries' diplomatic relations more multifaceted and comprehensive. Against this backdrop, the article seeks to interpret the underlying motivators and examine the current status of the defense cooperation between Vietnam and South Korea from 2017 to 2024. Historical and logical methods are employed as the primary approach, combined with interdisciplinary perspectives and standard social science research techniques, to provide assessments of the bilateral defense cooperation between the two nations.