By ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas Blox Content Management Sang Ryul Lee
Today, humanity is facing a new era of uncertainty. Will future advanced technologies such as AI be used positively for humanity? Will the increasingly unpredictable climate and natural disasters be controllable? Will the US tariff war lead to another global economic depression?
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1985, the Republic of Korea and The Bahamas have enjoyed a close, friendly and cooperative relationship in many areas. However, the relationship should be further enhanced for the future.
Given the trend in bilateral trade over the past decade, the results are not satisfactory. The trade volume in 2024 remained just $100 million.
So, we need to look to the future, and we need to look for mutual collaboration in the future that is coming toward us at the speed of light. In the knowledge-based and information society, advanced technologies such as AI are creating more opportunities and reserving larger space for cooperation without the limit of geographical distances and borders. In this regard, I would like to take this opportunity to look at the potential in which areas our bilateral future cooperation could blossom on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
About global Korea
Briefly here, I’d like to take a moment to introduce Korea and the Korean economy. South Korea is a medium-sized country of about 100,000 square kilometres and 52 million people. However, South Korea’s economy is the 10th largest in the world and it is a world leader in many high-tech sectors, including semiconductors, electronics, shipbuilding, petrochemicals, automotive, industrial machinery, IT, biopharmaceuticals, film, defense and weapons. Driven by global K-pop favourites such as BTS and Black Pink, and globally acclaimed Korean dramas such as Squid Game, South Korea’s cosmetics exports to the US market surpassed those of France in 2024, reaching US$10 billion, while agricultural and fishery products, as a single commodity, accounted for US$10.8 billion in global exports (2024). This is the power of culture.
Korea’s basically export-oriented economic structure has made it the sixth largest exporter in the world, and it is characterised by an outward-looking economy. However, due to the scarcity of natural resources and the small size of the market, an overseas oriented economy was inevitable, and Korea has been striving to develop excellent human resources and foster high-tech industries based on them to become a global economic power.
The Bahamas as seen through the eyes of Koreans
To Koreans, The Bahamas is well known as a country with numerous islands, beautiful beaches with coral reef, and vast expanses of sea as far as the eye can see. The Bahamas is also a high-income society with a GDP per capita of more than $38,000, and its geographical proximity to North America and continental Europe is a major attractive advantage.
Common challenges and vision for cooperation
Despite these strengths, Korea and The Bahamas also have many vulnerabilities. South Korea’s externally dependent economy has always been highly sensitive to global economic conditions and needs to be prepared. The vastness of The Bahamas’ oceans provides a beautiful tourism resource, but it is also subject to devastating natural disasters. Here I would like to offer my personal, albeit somewhat subjective, ideas on potential areas of future co-operation between the two countries.
The first is cooperation in the field of oceans and climate change. Korea hosted a number of conferences on oceans and climate change this year. It is leading global agendas in the field of green growth such as GGGI (Global Green Growth Institute) and GCF (Green Climate Fund), and international cooperation between the two countries in the maritime field through the IMO (International Maritime Organization) is also closely promoted. To date, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has allocated approximately US$44.3 million to The Bahamas across five key projects. Most recently, in February 2025, The Bahamas secured an additional US$3 million through the approval of the Advancing National Adaptation Planning (BAH-NAP) project.
Secondly, bilateral co-operation using future technologies such as IT and AI can also be considered. More recently, Veo 3, a new AI technology that combines voice and video, was developed. The film industries of South Korea and The Bahamas could collaborate to tap into the world market. The large-scale natural disasters that The Bahamas experiences every year are both a product of climate change and a challenge for humanity to respond to. There are strong needs to actively utilize new technologies of the future, such as AI, to reduce the damage of disasters through establishing precise prediction systems in advance. This is why it is important for both countries to work together to ensure that the advancement of AI technology can give humanity hope for the future, rather than groundless anxiety and fear.
Third, cooperation should not be limited to bilateral efforts. Korea is actively engaging with the Caribbean region to address a range of shared challenges. In response to Hurricane Dorian in 2019, the Korean government provided humanitarian assistance amounting to 200,000 US dollars to The Bahamas. To help meet the urgent needs of the Haitian people, Korea also contributed US$6 million to United Nations humanitarian initiatives in Haiti. We are also well aware that coastal sargassum events have become a widespread issue across the Caribbean. Beginning this year, a project has been launched worth US$11 million by Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in the region to address the sargassum problem, and we will continue exploring ways to expand this effort throughout the region. This effort is also supported through the Korea- CARICOM Cooperation Fund, which serves as a key platform for advancing regional collaboration.
Each year, the Korean government selects one Bahamian student through the program of Global Korea Scholarship, giving them the opportunity to pursue higher education for free for two to three years. In 2025, South Korean universities will continue to educate and train Bahamian talent for the future. With the global spread of Korean culture, including K-pop, dramas, and food, many foreign students want to study in Korea. Beyond cultural indulgence, many are also seeking to specialise in Korea’s advanced future technologies. We believe that these are the future talents who can connect Korea and the Bahamas, and we look forward to our bright future.
– Special contribution on the occasion of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and The Bahamas by Sang-Ryul Lee, ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.