(En)Gendering Democracy in an Emerging Donor? Gender Equality and Civil Society Participation in Korea's International Development Cooperation Policies

Abstract

This article examines the politics of change and transition within South Korea's identity as an iconic emerging donor in the field of international development cooperation. From 2017, Korea's assistance policies witnessed a significant transformation under the liberal administration of Moon Jae-in, whose normative emphasis on democratic values contrasted deeply with the strategic approach taken by previous conservative administrations' assistance policies. We examine the sources of this transformation and its influence on Korea's development cooperation policies with a focus on the promotion of gender equality by its flagship international cooperation agency and the development of an official framework for civil partnership in international development cooperation. We argue that the influence of domestic drivers such as norm-oriented, “facilitator” institutions, “regime reformers,” and civil society organizations is key to understanding these changes and the limits they face: an analytic focus that can be useful for understanding dynamics of change in other emerging donors.