earticle

영어

The paper reviews five decades of diplomatic, economic and science and technology relations between Brazil and South Korea. The history of political- diplomatic relations can be divided into three distinct stages: a preliminary stage focusing on migration, an intermediary stage in which relations between the countries expanded lasting between the period of economic opening until the Asian crisis and the current stage in the twenty-first century that has consisted in the resumption of talks and the signing of agreements on specific issues. While the Brazilian economy is bigger (US$ 1572.8 billion against US$ 947 billion), its presence in international markets is based on the commercialization of commodities and is smaller than Korea. Brazil is the world’s 24th largest exporter and 28th largest importer. In contrast, South Korea exports industrialized products and ranks 11th and 13th, respectively. Besides the increasing trend of trade between the two countries, subsidiaries of Korean conglomerates have begun operating in Brazil and recently some Brazilian companies have also opened ventures in South Korea. While cooperation in the field of Science and Technology is in an incipient stage, political and diplomatic relations have advanced much more rapidly as a result of the signing of numerous bilateral agreements that support increased trade and the development of science and technology. The paper seeks to show that the distinct industrialization paths taken by the two countries has impacted their trade and investment relations and presents an opportunity for greater bilateral cooperation in the field of science and technology.