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Koreans historically consider their country as a victim of foreign powers – sometimes seeing themselves as a shrimp among whales. In fact, Korea's national status has to a great extent been determined by the historical rivalries between the great powers. This collection of essays, produced over time by one of Korea's leading political scientists, probes many of the fundamental post-Korean-War issues South Korea has wrestled with in the context of its foreign policy positions, not least the question of how it actually defines its foreign policy, its relationship with the United States, and the ever-present security issues. Other essays examine the role of the US on the Korean peninsula after the end of the Cold War; what policy directions South Korea should take towards North Korea; what is North Korea's security policy; and what are the conditions for reunification. This thought-provoking volume provides a valuable overarching framework towards a more informed understanding of how South Korea's relationship with the outside world has evolved in the twentieth century and the manner in which it is likely to do business in the twenty-first.
South Korea's economic miracle is a well-known story. However, today Korea is confronting a new set of internal and external risks, which may foreshadow the next crisis. The Korean economy has been struggling with the faltering growth momentum and the rise of unprecedented socio-economic problems over recent years well before the pandemic crisis. After abrupt downshifts to markedly slower growth in the early 2000s, economic growth has continued to decelerate. Koreans are grappling with slow income growth, all time-high household debt, high youth unemployment, inequality, and social polarization. Politics is in disarray and is incapable of directing social discourse for the common good. Rapid population aging along with the world's lowest fertility rates stokes fears of Japanification. Simultaneously, disruptive technologies and fast-changing business environment such as the rise of China clash with a range of long-standing structural problems. The contemporary challenges are radically different from those seen in the early stages of industrialization. There are multiple risks that threaten to self-perpetuate low or stagnant growth over the next decade or so, if not an outright financial crisis. Motivated by these latest developments, this book seeks to provide a timely and in-depth analysis of key current issues and foreseeable challenges of the economy, with a provocative reassessment of its future. Based on extensive new empirical works, it examines the underlying causes of the socio-economic problems. In a constructive spirit, it puts in perspective what would constitute critical elements of ideal policy solutions and the direction of the future government's role.
This key volume provides in-depth analysis of the inter-Korean and international dynamics of North Korea's nuclear crisis. It offers new insights into the six-party talks designed to resolve the crisis, suggests creative formulas to resolve the ongoing crisis and delves into the interests and policies of the major powers at the six-party negotiating table.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) joined the rank of nuclear powers in October 2006 after exploding its first nuclear device. The test was not fully successful yet it unequivocally demonstrated North Korea's nuclear weapons capability. North Korea under the leadership of Kim Jong-il remains as unpredictable and mysterious as ever. This comprehensive study brings together leading scholars in the field to examine the country's current foreign policy under Kim Jong-il as well as its bilateral relations with the USA, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea.
Kim examines the impact of domestic politics in accomplishing South Korea’s middle power diplomacy through the provision of foreign aid. Since the 2000s, the rise of emerging nations as donors has brought about a remarkable transition in the international development community. South Korea has closed the gap with other Development Assistance Committee donors in terms of the quality of its aid. In doing so it has taken on a more active role as a middle power, acting as an agenda-setter and a mediator in the field of development and many other wide policy areas including trade, finance, environment, security, and peacekeeping. What factors, then, have encouraged South Korea to maintain and enhance the existing international development system? Not only how they behave, but also how their behaviour is determined is essential to truly understand the impact of emerging donors on the existing order. Kim highlights the significance of domestic politics in determining South Korea’s foreign aid behaviour, framing it in terms of South Korea’s wider middle power diplomatic strategy. This book will be of great value to scholars of South Korean politics and foreign policy, as well as to international relations scholars with an interest in the foreign aid policy of middle powers.
Korea’s experience of rapid economic growth represents both hope and a challenge to many developing countries. The conventional wisdom inside and outside Korea has been that the government’s policies such as export promotion, industrial targeting, and so on, made the rapid growth possible. This book investigates the effects of the policies and concludes that Korea’s growth experience does not corroborate the view. Rather, it points to the tremendous growth in size of the world market as an important factor that has been overlooked in the discussion of nations’ economic growth in the post-World War II era. It was roughly 100 times bigger in the early 1960s than it was in the middle of the First Industrial Revolution. The potential "gains from trade" were that much greater; while the Korean economy had not been realizing the potential gains, it began to as soon as a major reform of the foreign exchange system in 1961 removed the impediments to foreign trade. Explosive export expansion and rapid growth of the economy immediately followed. The "Korean Miracle" may be better understood as a process whereby the economy realized its huge potential.
This book argues that North Korea has outlived forecasts of its collapse because of Juche—a unique political institution built on the simple notion of self-determination, whose meanings and limits have been shaped by Koreans’ experiences with colonialism, war, and development amidst surrounding superpowers that have complicated their aspirations.
Rozman, Terry, and Jo analyze the geopolitical shifts in South Korea’s policies toward its neighbors and allies over the course of the Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in administrations into the early years of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. 2013 to 2022 was a tumultuous decade in South Korean politics and especially in its foreign policy. Through two changes of its own presidency, as well as the rise and fall of the Trump administration in the United States, South Korea’s politicians and diplomats have pursued different attempts at bridge-building with North Korea, before arriving at a more cautious and defensive position. The authors track the different attempts by Park and Moon to pursue increasingly optimistic attempts at reconciliation, and how they were thwarted by excessive idealism, domestic divisions, and broader great power rivalries—notably including Russia, China, and Japan. An essential guide to understanding the trajectory of South Korean foreign policy, for students of Korean politics as well as scholars and policy practitioners.
The 2018 summit meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un brought renewed international attention to North Korea and its leading dynasty. Ruled by three successive generations of the Kim family, North Korea is one of the most authoritarian states in the world. This collection of articles covers the history of their dynasty, including Kim Il-sung's assumption of power in the wake of World War II, the intense cult of personality surrounding him that followed, and the twice-over handoff of power from father to son, first to Kim Jong-il and later to Kim Jong-un. This in-depth coverage presents a tale of human rights abuses, famine, and nuclearization at the hands of three eccentric, unpredictable, and fiercely nationalistic dictators.
This volume discusses Korea’s role as a middle power in the midst of the 21st century global power shift. Focusing on Korea’s middle power diplomacy from the perspective of coalition building, the book discusses structural factors that shape middle power strategy and diplomacy. Written by leading Korean researchers, the chapters use diverse methodologies to offer a range of perspectives on Korea’s place in the developing global order. Topics discussed include South Korea’s approach to technology policy in the midst of US-China cyber competition, the East Asian ‘Thucydides Trap’, MITKA and middle power diplomacy, Korea’s role in the South China Sea dispute, and South Korean cyber security. Providing a unique treatment of middle power opportunities and motivations in the East Asia region, this volume will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, Asian politics, diplomacy, security studies, and global governance.