How is Korea Responding to the Iran Conflict? | The Capital Cable #132

How has the ongoing Iran conflict impacted South Korea? What has the Lee Jae Myung administration done to solve this crisis? How might instability in the Middle East strain the strategic industries and energy flows that underpin South Korea’s economy? Could shifts in U.S. military focus or global force movements influence alliance coordination, extended‑deterrence signals, or even North Korea’s own strategic calculations? And what policy options might South Korea consider as it confronts simultaneous uncertainties in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific?

Joining Mark Lippert to discuss these issues and more are Victor Cha, Darcie Draudt‑Véjares from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Jang Ji‑Hyang from the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

Darcie Draudt‑Véjares is a fellow for Korean Studies in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she examines how demographic change, industrial transformation, and geopolitical competition shape national power and state capacity, with South Korea as a leading comparative case. Her work assesses coordination across high‑tech sectors—including semiconductors, batteries, AI, and space—and explores how societal aging and workforce shifts drive strategic and economic policy choices in advanced democracies. She has previously held postdoctoral appointments at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and the George Washington University Institute for Korean Studies, and has conducted research with the National Bureau of Asian Research, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Korea Economic Institute, and Yonsei University. Dr. Draudt‑Véjares earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University, M.A. in Korean Studies from Yonsei University, and A.B. in Anthropology from Davidson College, and is proficient in Korean after living in Seoul from 2008 to 2013. Her commentary regularly appears in policy outlets analyzing Northeast Asian politics, U.S.–Korea relations, and shifting regional dynamics. 

Jang Ji‑Hyang is a Principal Fellow and Director of the Center for Regional Studies at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, where she leads research on the Middle East and North Africa, comparative politics, political Islam, terrorism, state‑building, and the political economy of the Middle East. She has served as a policy advisor on Middle East issues to South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2012–2018) and continues to advise the Ministries of Industry, Justice, and Defense. Dr. Jang is the author of numerous books and reports, including The Essential Guide to the Middle East (2023) and the co‑edited volume The Arab Spring: Will It Lead to Democratic Transitions?. She has taught Middle East politics, comparative democratization, and political economy at Seoul National University, Ewha Womans University, and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. She holds a B.A. in Turkish Studies and an M.A. in Political Science from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research is widely cited in Korean policy circles, especially on how developments in the Middle East influence Korean foreign policy, security, and energy strategy.

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