1st Edition
Politics, International Relations and Diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula
This edited volume explores the past, present, and future of the Korean Peninsula, with special focus on South Korea, by connecting developments in politics with those in international relations and diplomacy.
The book focuses on how South Korea’s politics and international relations have evolved since the founding of the First Republic in 1948, with particular attention to the period surrounding the 2022 presidential election. The authors provide new insights into Korean politics, including South Korean electoral reform and relations with China and Japan, North Korea’s nuclear capacity, and North–South diplomacy.
Beginning with a commentary by Colin Crooks, Britain’s current Ambassador to South Korea and former Ambassador to North Korea, on recent British foreign policy changes and UK–Korea relations, this book will appeal to scholars and students of politics, international relations, diplomacy, and Korean Studies.
Commentary
Colin Crooks
Preface
Sojin Lim
1. Out of Proportion: The 2019 Electoral Reform and the State of Representative Democracy in South Korea
Hannes B. Mosler
2. South Korea’s Democratic Experience: Political Leadership and Civil Society
Kyounghee Cho
3. What Role to Play? Assessing the Republic of Korea’s Future Nuclear Diplomacy
Virginie Grzelczyk
4. Reassessing the South Korea–China–Japan Trilateral Summits: The Limits of Institutionalism in East Asia
Ed Griffith
5. Diplomatic Competition between North and South Korea in the Southern Cone (1950–1977)
Camilo Aguirre Torrini
6. Why Presenting a Foe as a Friend Can Make Sense: Explaining Shifts in North Korea’s Construction of a South Korean Threat in State Media
Benedikt Christoph Staar
Biography
Sojin Lim is Reader in Asia Pacific Studies (with special reference to Korea), Course Leader for both MA North Korean Studies and MA Asia Pacific Studies, and Co-Director of the International Institute of Korean Studies at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. She is the author of articles and book chapters on sustainable development and political economy. Her recent publications include International Aid and Sustainable Development in North Korea: A Country Left Behind with Cloaked Society (2024). She frequently discusses changes in the Korean Peninsula in media interviews.
