South Korea’s Climate Change Diplomacy: Analysis Based on the Perspective of “Middle Power Diplomacy”

Abstract

Before 2008, South Korea’s interest in climate change diplomacy was practically nonexistent. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was established in 1992, and most post-1992 Korean administrations assumed the position of developing country and maintained a passive stance as an observer of international climate change issues. The Kim Dae-jung administration responded actively to the UNFCCC with launching “the Committee for Climate Change Convention” and establishing a comprehensive national plan on climate change. Even these efforts, however, led to no noteworthy diplomatic accomplishments. Although Korea retained developing country status in relation to the UNFCCC, it was an economically advanced middle power with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) membership; it was also, at the time, one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters. Nevertheless, Korea’s pre-2008 climate change diplomacy was still passive and did not leverage or reflect the nation’s position internationally.