South Korea’s (Incomplete) Middle-Power Diplomacy Toward ASEAN

Abstract

This paper highlights Seoul's middle-power activism toward the most important multilateral organisation in its near abroad, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It reviews how the successive administrations

Selective border permeability: Governing complex environmental issues through and beyond COVID-19

“…In rethinking its regional leadership role, ASEAN could take a proactive stance in encouraging China to become more responsive to environmental concerns in BRI project areas. Such soft diplomacy would in turn enhance China's geopolitical legitimacy in the region, as South Korea has demonstrated in its related low-carbon and green growth partnerships that have increased its leverage with ASEAN ( Howe & Park, 2019 ). At the national scale, governments in Southeast Asia could equally use the hiatus in China-led regional development to commission impact assessments and introduce environmental safeguards into recovery stimulus packages.…”

The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Emergence of Vietnam as a Middle Power

“…There are some powers that act like middle powers without labelling themselves as such (Wilkins, 2018: 55). Looking to the case of South Korea, though cautious not to directly embrace the concept of “middle power” in official narratives, but under the impetus of a group of scholars, South Korean foreign policy has evinced various aspects of a middle power, from the country's being a “balancer” and “hub” (within the framework of the Northeast Asian initiative) under the Roo Moo-hyun government to a “convener,” “conciliator,” and “agenda-setter” (according to the overarching slogan of “Global Korea”) under the Lee Myung-bak administration and the new Southern policy of the Moon Jae-in presidency (Howe and Park, 2019). Constrained by its historical experiences of once being considered as a regional hegemon, Vietnamese leaders have not officially identified the country as a middle power.…”

Corea del Sur y la diplomacia multilateral:

“…El rol de potencia media de Corea en la región del Este de Asia se diluye detrás del creciente protagonismo chino -tanto como socio preferencial de la ASEAN como de Corea-y de la persistente preponderancia de Japón, a pesar de su declive relativo. No es de sorprender en este sentido que una de las metas centrales de la actual presidencia surcoreana esté orientada a incrementar los intercambios comerciales en un corto plazo y a duplicar los fondos destinados a la cooperación con ASEAN (Howe & Park, 2019).…”

“…En este marco, el rol de la República de Corea 1 cobra un nuevo sentido. Alejándose parcialmente de la focalización casi exclusiva en su relación con Estados Unidos como filtro de su proyección externa, Seúl comenzó a redefinir su política exterior global y regional desde una perspectiva de poder medio (Howe & Park, 2019).…”