Has the Ghost that Ruined the Country Been Resurrected? The Puzzle of South Korea’s Domestic and Foreign Policies (original) (raw)
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South Korea: Its Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy Outlook
2009
This report covers the background and current state of the relationship of the United States with the Republic of Korea (ROK, formerly South Korea), including economic and trade issues, North Korea, naval, and military events. It is a general overview of the current state of relations with South Korea.
Modern History and Contemporary Politics in the Republic of Korea
This is a keynote address at the 5th Philippine Korean Studies Symposium, held at the University of the Philippines Nov. 9-10, 2017. In it, I discuss four issues from recent history that are still hotly debated in South Korea (collaboration with the Japanese, the conduct of the Korean War, the Park Chung Hee years, and the Kwangju massacre) and why there are such different interpretations of those important episodes.
IN-EAST Working Papers, 2022
What are the characteristics of President Moon Jae-in’s policy toward North Korea, and what lessons can be drawn for the future? More than 70 years have passed since the establishment of the two republics in 1948, during which continuous attempts have been made to achieve reconciliation, peace, and prosperity on the Korean peninsula. Even though the Korean War (1950–53) as well as the last authoritarian government in South Korea (until 1987) belong to the ever more distant past, neither, obviously, have the conflicts between the two Koreas ceased, nor has South Korea found a reasonable and effective way of addressing the conundrum. Against this backdrop of more than half a century of contentious inter-Korean relations, the paper examines the foreign policy (efforts) by the Moon administration (2017–2022) toward North Korea in order to shed light on challenges and opportunities for the future regarding the region of East Asia as well as inter-regional policy implications.
United Korea and the Future of Inter-Korean Politics: a Work Already in Progress
Asia Pacific Perspectives, 2006
On the eve of the 2005 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference, the governments of the Korean peninsula found themselves in familiar positions: security and economic policies determining the immediate future of Koreans were being heavily influenced by foreign nations. Outside interest is high because the Republic of Korea (South Korea) is noted as having the world’s tenth largest economy (Fifield 2005), while the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) is cited as a nation with nuclear weapons and military strength. Within these over-simplified labels of North Korea and South Korea lie several critical discussions: how will economic stability, the process of reunification, and foreign policy shape the future of the Korean peninsula? What are the perceptions of Koreans about themselves? What is the nature of negotiation between Pyongyang and Seoul, without the mediation and intrusion of other governments? The goal of the following discussion is to further investigate inter-Korean diplomacy to project the vision of a united and stable Korea. Evidence will conclude that the reunification of Korea is inevitable, and has been an ongoing process since the nation’s division.
Janus.net, 2023
International relations theory tends to be characterized by a dichotomy between those who emphasize international constraints with regards to grand strategy and foreign policy decisions, most often associated with realist theories of international relations, and those who emphasize domestic factors, most notably liberal theories. These two approaches are often framed as if they were incompatible. This article attempts to contribute to bridging the gap by examining the presidencies of Syngman Rhee and Park Chung Hee of the Republic of Korea. A comparison between the two presidencies reveals very different political visions for the Republic of Korea. However, it also shows very contrasting grand strategy and foreign policy options under similar international constraints. This is consistent with neoclassical realist theory and the idea that grand strategy and foreign policy are fundamentally determined by international pressures but nevertheless are also influenced by domestic-level factors.
Between Politics and Economics in Seoul's North Korea Policy
Structured Abstract Article type: Research Paper Purpose—The aim of this article is to reexamine the question of why economic integration between the two Koreas has remained so limited through moving beyond a focus on strategic-military tensions to examine the influence that South Korea's domestic political culture plays. Design/methodology/approach—The article adopts a historical sociological approach that traces the process of class formation in post-liberation South Korea and examines how the legacies of state formation and U.S. intervention shape current contestations surrounding Seoul's policy toward North Korea. Findings—The article argues that anti-communism, inter-Korean tensions, and the broader context of the Cold War initially contributed toward South Korea's national development. However, formal democratization and the changing relation ship with the U.S. meant that such tensions became increasingly inimical to contin ued economic growth. The Sunshine Policy, despite its flaws, was shaped in part by the increased pressures on the profitability of South Korean capital and the need for new sources of cheap labor and opportunities for new investment. Since 2007, how ever, there has been a strong resurgence of anti-communist rhetoric and a growing distance between the conservatives' hard line policies toward the North and the demands made by business for engagement. Practical Implications—The divergent policies toward inter-Korean relations adopted by successive governments in the post-authoritarian era should be under stood in the broader context of South Korean state formation and the country's rela tions with external powers such as the U.S.
The History of Korea, 1905–1945 2021
Oxford Handbook of South Korean Politics, edited by JeongHun Han, Ramon Pacheco Pardo, and Youngho Cho, 2021
This chapter provides an overview of key questions, issues, and debates in the scholar ship on the political history of Korea from 1905 to 1945. Japan placed Korea in protec torate status in 1905 and colonized the country in 1910. After nearly forty years under colonial rule, the dominant narrative in the scholarship in South Korea from 1945 to the mid-1980s focused on Japanese colonial oppression and the Korean struggle against it to achieve national independence. The focus of this chapter is on subsequent approaches that have supplemented, qualified, challenged, and refined interpretations of this era. These include analysis of the causes behind the emergence of modern nationalism in Ko rea; the internal political polarization between left and right and the internal conflicts within each camp that formed the domestic foundations for the division of the Korean Peninsula after 1945; the bureaucratization that, according to some scholars, served as the template for the developmental state that emerged in South Korea during the 1960s; and the dissolution of absolute monarchy as a viable system of governance in the post-1945 period.