India and the Republic of Korea are frequently described as natural partners, yet the economic and strategic potential of the relationship remains substantially unrealised. The April 2026 state visit of President Lee Jae Myung to New Delhi injected renewed political momentum into bilateral ties and created an opportunity to reassess both the achievements and the persistent constraints in the partnership. The central question is how the two countries can convert political goodwill, economic complementarities and converging strategic interests into credible and sustained cooperation.

This paper approaches that question from a Korean perspective. It examines the evolution of Korea’s regional outlook, the turning point created by China’s economic coercion in 2017, and the subsequent drive for economic and diplomatic diversification. It then distinguishes three strands in Korean thinking about India and applies transaction cost theory to explain why strong complementarities have not produced commensurate outcomes. The analysis is presented in the speaker’s personal capacity, as recorded in the footnote to this paper.

The paper is organised as follows. Section 2 reviews the key deliverables of the Lee–Modi summit. Sections 3 and 4 trace the evolution of Korea’s regional outlook and the turning point of 2017. Section 5 examines Korean perspectives on India, Section 6 analyses the principal challenges in the bilateral partnership, and Section 7 sets out the implications and ways forward before the conclusion.