{"title":"South Korean Public's Threat Perception of North Korea and Support for the US Extended Deterrence","authors":"F. F","doi":"10.29152/koiks.2024.55.1.53","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29152/koiks.2024.55.1.53","url":null,"abstract":"South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's statement on nuclear acquisition resonates throughout the United States, raising speculations about his intent. Although the U.S. has made strides to reassure South Korea by establishing the Nuclear Consultative Group in 2023, the South Korean public's heightened threat perception of North Korea has neither been assuaged nor translated into support for the U.S. extended deterrence. This situation contradicts existing literature, which posits that a state's restraint on nuclear armament can be attributed to the security guarantee provided by its nuclear ally. To resolve this puzzle, this study explores the nature of the South Korean public's threat perception and the factors determining its support for the U.S. extended deterrence. Empirical analyses demonstrate that South Korean public's threat perception of North Korea is substantially high in both progressive and conservative blocs. However, South Koreans would rather develop their own nuclear weapon than rely on extended deterrence.","PeriodicalId":511646,"journal":{"name":"Korea Observer - Institute of Korean Studies","volume":"28 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140418858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mediation Diplomacy of a Critical Stakeholder: South Korea's Role in the U.S.-DPRK Negotiation","authors":"F. F","doi":"10.29152/koiks.2024.55.1.73","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29152/koiks.2024.55.1.73","url":null,"abstract":"This paper explains South Korea's foreign policy preferences and degree of influence in negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. It analyzes six administrations in South Korea in the post-Cold War era and shows that domestic politics determines the country's policy preferences toward North Korea. South Korea can either obstruct or facilitate U.S. negotiation with North Korea based on these policy preferences. It also shows that South Korea's diplomatic influence on the North Korean issue is maximized when it functions as a mediator between Washington and Pyongyang and maintains access to both parties.","PeriodicalId":511646,"journal":{"name":"Korea Observer - Institute of Korean Studies","volume":"13 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140423202","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"U.S.-China Hegemonic Competition and Power Transitions: Focusing on the Role of Allies","authors":"F. F","doi":"10.29152/koiks.2024.55.1.29","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29152/koiks.2024.55.1.29","url":null,"abstract":"The U.S.-China hegemonic competition is clearly underway, as the Biden administration acknowledges China as the only challenger to the existing global hegemony. This recognition has initiated a power struggle between the two, despite neither possessing absolute national power for complete dominance. This article goes beyond the traditional debate of whether China will eventually surpass the U.S. and focuses on deriving pertinent implications. The role of allies in shaping the U.S.-China competition is gaining significance. The U.S. is restructuring the global supply chain to exclude China, creating overlapping mini-lateral cooperative networks with traditional allies and friendly nations. Conversely, China is expanding its influence through traditional multilateral cooperation, aligning with alliance transition theory. Furthermore, mid-sized countries, especially pivotal ones are assuming a more critical role. This situation has implications for ROK government's foreign policy, which aims to play an active role as a Global Pivotal State emphasizing liberal democratic values and common interests.","PeriodicalId":511646,"journal":{"name":"Korea Observer - Institute of Korean Studies","volume":"4 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140420921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Political Discourse on Twitter: The Case of Election Fraud in South Korea","authors":"F. F","doi":"10.29152/koiks.2024.55.1.101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29152/koiks.2024.55.1.101","url":null,"abstract":"The fake news that circulated on social media in 2020 and 2022 affected the voters of the South Korean general and presidential elections, respectively. The political controversy, centered on the election fraud that occurred in both the elections, received significant attention from the society. This study emphasizes the Twitter discourse and compares the formation and distribution of election fraud. We conduct semantic social network analysis and structural topic modeling (STM) to represent topics and relationships among the emerging themes using Twitter texts related to both elections. Results demonstrate that discourses on the same political issue exhibited unique contents and structures, as information is formed and distributed differently depending on the type of election in South Korea. Furthermore, this study illustrates the process and analysis of large-scale text data collected from Twitter. It also includes new methods, such as political ideology, for considering an analytical dimension.","PeriodicalId":511646,"journal":{"name":"Korea Observer - Institute of Korean Studies","volume":"2 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140423431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"South Korea's Foreign Policy Shifts Under President Yoon and Implications for the Sino-US Peer Competition","authors":"F. F","doi":"10.29152/koiks.2024.55.1.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29152/koiks.2024.55.1.1","url":null,"abstract":"South Korea, caught amid the intensifying Sino-US peer competition, has begun to re-orientate its foreign policy under President Yoon Suk-yeol, significantly shifting it away from his predecessor President Moon Jae-in. At the crux of these policy changes is a shift away from the so-called “Three Noes”, which have existed as a policy stopgap in order to stabilize Seoul's position between China and the US following the 2017 THAAD debacle. This policy shift indicates that the Yoon administration has begun removing policy stopgaps that facilitated hedging behavior and is trimming South Korea's hedge tacking harder on the US for security and aligning as a core Asian state with the Rules-based International Order. Nevertheless, careful strategic calculus is required to avoid backlash from Beijing, despite Yoon seeking closer alignment with Washington. The policy shift underway has the geostrategic potential to solidify the Northeast Asian flank of Washington's efforts to counter Beijing, with a phalanx of Asia-Pacific allies and partners.","PeriodicalId":511646,"journal":{"name":"Korea Observer - Institute of Korean Studies","volume":"76 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140422913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Examining the Role of Social Capital and Socioeconomic Status on Anti-Foreigner Sentiment in South Korea","authors":"F. F","doi":"10.29152/koiks.2024.55.1.131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.29152/koiks.2024.55.1.131","url":null,"abstract":"South Korean society is becoming incredibly and rapidly diverse through increasing inbound immigration. This has recently been highlighted due to low birth rate trends among South Koreans. While the number of foreigners is increasing in South Korea, there have been limited studies on the social integration of these foreigners as well as public attitudes towards them. In this study, we apply the group threat model and focus on how social capital and socioeconomic status are associated with anti-foreigner sentiments. Analyses of data from the 2022 citizen survey conducted in South Korea suggest that both factors are partially related to anti-foreigner sentiment at the structural and individual levels. Through this study, we contribute to the understanding of public attitudes towards foreigners and suggest careful approaches in social integration policy design.","PeriodicalId":511646,"journal":{"name":"Korea Observer - Institute of Korean Studies","volume":"131 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140423854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}