Table Of Content
South Korean Strategic Thought
toward Asia
STRATEGIC THOUGHT IN NORTHEAST ASIA
Gilbert Rozman, Series Editor
Russian Strategic Thought toward Asia
Edited by Gilbert Rozman, Kazuhiko Togo, and Joseph Ferguson
Japanese Strategic Thought toward Asia
Edited by Gilbert Rozman, Kazuhiko Togo, and Joseph Ferguson
Strategic Thinking about the Korean Nuclear Crisis: Four Parties Caught between North Korea
and the United States
By Gilbert Rozman
South Korean Strategic Thought toward Asia
Edited by Gilbert Rozman, In-Taek Hyun, and Shin-wha Lee
Chinese Strategic Thought toward Asia
By Gilbert Rozman (forthcoming)
South Korean Strategic
Thought toward Asia
Edited by
Gilbert Rozman, In-Taek Hyun,
and
Shin-wha Lee
SOUTH KOREAN STRATEGIC THOUGHT TOWARD ASIA
Copyright © Gilbert Rozman, In-Taek Hyun, Shin-wha Lee, 2008.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First published in 2008 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™
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ISBN-13: 978–1–4039–7555–3
ISBN-10: 1–4039–7555–8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
South Korean strategic thought toward Asia / edited by Gilbert
Rozman, In-Taek Hyun, and Shin-wha Lee.
p. cm.—(Strategic thought in Northeast Asia)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1–4039–7555–8
1. Korea (South)—Foreign relations—East Asia. 2. East Asia—
Foreign relations—Korea (South) 3. Korean reunification question
(1945–) 4. Korea (South)—Foreign relations—Russia (Federation)
5. Russia (Federation)—Foreign relations—Korea (South) I. Rozman,
Gilbert. II. Hyon, In-t’aek, 1954– III. Yi, Sin-hwa, 1965–
JZ1747.A55S68 2008
355(cid:2).03305195—dc22 2007041540
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: May 2008
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
1 Overview 1
Gilbert Rozman, In-Taek Hyun, and Shin-wha Lee
Chronology
2 South Korean Strategic Thought toward
Asia in the 1980s 33
Kyudok Hong
3 Strategic Thought toward Asia in the
Kim Young-sam Era 55
In-Taek Hyun
4 Strategic Thought toward Asia in the
Kim Dae-jung Era 77
Scott Snyder
5 Strategic Thought toward Asia in the
Roh Moo-hyun Era 101
Seong-Ho Sheen
Geography
6 South Korean Strategic Thought on Reunification 129
Jong-Yun Bae and Gilbert Rozman
7 South Korean Strategic Thought toward China 153
Jae Ho Chung
8 South Korean Strategic Thought toward Japan 179
Gilbert Rozman
vi ● Contents
9 South Korean Strategic Thought toward Russia 203
Gilbert Rozman
10 S outh Korean Strategic Thought toward
Regionalism 225
Shin-wha Lee
List of Contributors 249
Index 251
Acknowledgments
T
he editors are grateful to the Princeton Institute of International
and Regional Studies (PIIRS) and the Ilmin Institute of
International Relations of Korea University for supporting this
project from its inception through publication. The initial meeting at
Princeton also received support from the Korean Economic Institute
(KEI) and the East Asian Studies Program of Princeton University.
Many experts on Korea commented on the project during its various
stages in 2005–07. Some attended the initial workshop where broad
themes were raised and others joined later meetings where draft chap-
ters were presented. We are grateful to all of them and, especially, to the
contributors to this volume, whose comments on other chapters helped
in the preparation of the overview. Special thanks go to Kim Dongjung
for the onerous task of making the transliteration from Korean consistent
as well as research assistance.
Finally, we want to thank Anthony Wahl at Palgrave for his continuous
support.
Gilbert Rozman
In-Taek Hyun
Shin-wha Lee
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CHAPTER 1
Overview
Gilbert Rozman, In-Taek Hyun,
and Shin-wha Lee
T
he simple days of choosing sides and depending exclusively on
one patron are over for the states of Northeast Asia as for other
states that were consequential in the polarized cold war era. The
transition in this region began, albeit slowly, with China’s emergence as
a third, if lesser pole, after its decisions in 1971–72 to abandon autarchy
and in 1982 to seek equidistance between the superpowers. By the mid-
1980s Japan’s new insistence on becoming a regional leader with some
autonomy from the United States gave more impetus to the transition.
Greatly accelerating it were Moscow’s moves to end the cold war
followed by a dramatic rise in Beijing’s clout in the 1990s. In addition,
from 1993 North Korea became an object of regional attention and
competition, demonstrating its independent ability to affect regional
affairs. At the center of the region, tethered to the United States and
newly attentive to its brethren in North Korea, South Korea squarely
faces the challenge of a rapidly changing balance of great powers amidst
lingering strategic dilemmas. This puts a premium on leadership that
adroitly analyzes the forces of change and plans how best to serve the
national interest. Strategic thinking in Seoul over a quarter century
from the waning days of the cold war to the uncertain state of the North
Korean nuclear crisis opens a window on Northeast Asia’s dynamic
transformation.
Of the countries of Northeast Asia, South Korea has made the most
far-reaching shift in strategic thinking since the end of the cold war.
