South Korea´s expanding regional and global roles: challenges and perspectives

Abstract

In the last four decades the Republic of Korea (South Korea or Korea) developed from a poor country and an agrarian society into a wealthy and industrial nation and a world leader in important areas such as information technology and innovation. Despite its remarkable achievements at the national level, at the regional and global levels Korea´s role was somewhat marginal until the 1990s. With the end of the Cold War and its diplomatic foundations established Korea´s foreign policy underwent rapid transformations; its scope became global and included what has been called “summit diplomacy”, designed to consolidate friendly relations and start new partnerships and projects of cooperation for the 21th century. At the regional level it is an active member of Asean+3, of Apec and of other organizations; since 2008 it maintains annual Trilateral Summit Meetings with China and Japan, and in September 2011 Seoul became seat of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat. Only a few years after joining the UN (1991), in November 1995 the country was elected a non-permanent member of the UNSC, and recently was again elected for the period of 2013-2014; in 2006 Ban Ki-moon,
a Korean Diplomat, was elected the 8th Secretary General of the UN and in June 2011 he had his mandate renewed until 2016. These and other important achievements
are evidence of Korea´s assertive role as a regional and global actor. To strengthen cooperation with established and emerging international partners the country will rely on the following policy directions and strategies: expand export markets, attract FDI, pursue bilateral trade and intensify ties with major trading partners. It is clear, however, that in addition to its undeniable economic success story and political achievements at the regional and international levels, external variables are quite important in Korea´s determination to expand its regional and global roles: the domestic and international policies and consequent strategies implemented by China, the United States, and Japan, as well the future relationships among these three countries. The relationships between the US and China, in particular, will determine to a large extent what will happen in East Asia. China has become Korea´s number one trade partner, but Korea is heavily dependent on the US for security and military assistance. Therefore, the new Korean government is expected to play a kind of pendulum strategy between the two major powers, as well as a somewhat neutral role with respect to Sino-Japanese China relations.