Korea and India have had formal diplomatic relations since 1973. But informal relations have existed for several centuries and one of the early interactions that is being popularised by the Korean government is one that took place over a 1000 years ago when a princess from Ayutha (apparently Ayodhya) went to Korea and married King Kim Suro. In modern times, however, for the first 20 years after formal diplomatic relations were established the level of interest in each other remained at a very low key. This was despite the fact that Korean firms had started to explore the Indian market from the early 1980s. But in 1991, India started a process of economic reform that had FDI as one of its main components. In 1993, Prime Minister Narasimha Rao visited Korea as part of his ‘Look East’ policy and signed an agreement of cooperation. Korea swiftly grasped the opportunity that the vast Indian market could provide, and the next few years saw a massive upsurge in Korean investment in India. It is now the fifth largest investor in India. Today, Korean firms have become household names in India and they account for significant markets shares in every market in which they are present...
