South Korea’s Foreign Policy and East Asia

Abstract

South Korea, which for many years lacked a forward-looking foreign strategy, is now in a position to opt for something longer term and ambitious. These days, there are growing debates and burgeoning discourses about the desirable future trajectory of South Korean foreign policy. This chapter provides a theoretical perspective that will guide South Korean foreign strategy in defining the policy environment and specifying purposes and interests. It also provides a more concrete exploration of future policy agendas. The organising principle of international relations in East Asia can be characterised as pre-Hobbesian anarchy in the sense that, to set up Hobbesian anarchy or a basic anarchical society, let alone Lockean and Kantian anarchy, basic norms of sovereignty must be observed. We see the rise of new, complex networks: we witness new areas and new actors in Northeast Asia, which might be called 'postmodern' phenomena, which in turn determine relations among states. Keywords:East Asia; international relations; pre-Hobbesian anarchy; South Korea's foreign policy