South Korean President Lee Jae Myung Arrives in India April 19 for State Visit

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will arrive in New Delhi on Sunday, April 19 for a three-day state visit to India — the first state visit by a South Korean president to India in eight years — where he will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi covering shipbuilding cooperation, artificial intelligence, defence technology, energy supply chain security, and the groundwork for doubling bilateral trade to USD 50 billion by 2030. The visit was confirmed by South Korea’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac, who described the discussions as expected to ‘reaffirm mutual commitment to maintaining close coordination regarding energy supply chains amidst the turbulent international landscape.’

The timing of the visit is driven partly by the Hormuz crisis, which has hit South Korea — a country that imports 70-80 per cent of its oil from the Gulf region — with acute energy supply insecurity. Seoul is actively exploring whether South Korea can join the multilateral Hormuz freedom of navigation summit being co-led by the UK and France, and sees India — which has maintained direct diplomatic channels with Tehran throughout the crisis and extracted eight Indian LPG carriers to safety — as a critical partner in managing Gulf energy supply chain disruptions.

Shipbuilding: The Strategic Core of the Partnership

South Korea, home to Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Hanwha Ocean — collectively responsible for a substantial share of the world’s LNG carrier, VLCC, and container vessel newbuilding — is positioned as the ideal technology and expertise partner for India’s National Shipbuilding Mission. Wi Sung-lac’s pre-visit briefing explicitly highlighted ‘shipbuilding and maritime industries’ as a strategic sector where South Korea expects to ‘open a new chapter in economic cooperation by identifying new projects.’ India’s ambition to build 5 per cent of the global orderbook by 2030 requires technology transfer, joint manufacturing frameworks, and workforce development at a scale that only South Korea can currently provide among allied nations.

The Korea International Cooperation Agency has already signed an implementation plan with India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways for shipbuilding skills development, and the presidential visit is expected to significantly accelerate this cooperation — potentially including joint venture frameworks between Korean majors and Indian shipyards, Korean financing for India’s Shipbuilding Development Scheme brownfield expansions, and technology licensing agreements covering LNG carrier propulsion systems, naval design, and modular construction methods. The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that President Lee will be accompanied by a high-level delegation of ministers, officials, and business leaders — a delegation composition that signals concrete commercial agreements are expected to accompany the diplomatic communiqué.