Description
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.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Gilbert Rozman, Sue Mi Terry, and Eun A Jo
Part One: South Korea in the Hot Seat, 2013-2015
1. A Trustpolitik Approach to Denuclearization and Unification
Sue Mi Terry
2. Managing Four Great Powers
Gilbert Rozman
3. Remaking of Conservative Narratives
Eun A Jo
Part Two: South Korea’s High Stakes Diplomacy, 2016-2019
4. Great Hopes, Shattered Dreams
Sue Mi Terry
5. Gambling on Great Power Relations
Gilbert Rozman
6. Return of Progressive Narratives
Eun A Jo
Part Three: South Korea Sobers Up, 2020-2022
7. Shift to the New Missile Age: 2020-2022
Sue Mi Terry
8. Edging toward Bipolarity: South Korea’s Regional Reorientation, 2020-2022
Gilbert Rozman
9. Battling Partisan Narratives
Eun A Jo
