scholarly journals The Samjiyon Orchestra as a North Korean Means for Gender Based Cultural Diplomacy

2020 ◽  
pp. 57-82
Author(s):  
Pekka Korhonen ◽  
Tomoomi Mori
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
Olympic Games ◽  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
The North ◽  
Winter Olympic Games ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
Selection Of

In 2018 it appeared that a peace process on the Korean Peninsula had got underway. Lots of publicity was produced on inter-Korean relations and many types of messages and diplomatic actors started to move across the border with South Korea. One important element in this process was cultural diplomacy, conducted partly by athletes and cheering squads during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games, and partly by musical ensembles. Selection of the Samjiyon Orchestra for the Pyeongchang events sheds light on the kind of image the North Korean leadership wanted to display of the country on the international stage. This article analyses the characteristics of the orchestra, where it came from, and why was it suitable for cultural diplomacy. Our wider goal is to understand music as an element in North Korean foreign policy. Evidently, music is considered an important tool for specific occasions, though its use is intermittent rather than regular.

scholarly journals Study on the Association of Casualties and Classification of Heat Wave Weather Patterns in South Korea Using K-Means Clustering Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 11-18
Author(s):  
Hyeon-Cheol Lee ◽  
Young-Jun Cho ◽  
Byunghwan Lim ◽  
Seung-Bum Kim
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Heat Wave ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
Clustering Analysis ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
The North ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The North Pacific

In this study, weather patterns (WPs) associated with the heat wave in South Korea are objectively classified by applying <i>K</i>-means clustering analysis. The representative weather patterns that caused the heat wave were divided into three WPs, namely WP 1, WP 2, and WP 3. The heat wave over the Korean Peninsula was mainly related to the expansion of the North Pacific High (NPH). Moreover, we analyzed the relationship between casualties and WPs of the heat wave. In WP 1, the isobar of NPH was located in the southern part of South Korea. Most casualties (18 people) occurred in this region. In WP 2, NPH was distributed throughout South Korea, with nationwide casualties of 44 people. Moreover, the duration of the heat wave for WP 2 was the longest, at 4.5 days. WP 3 occurred mainly in June, when the NPH was not yet developed, presenting the smallest number of casualties.

scholarly journals North Koreans’ Public Narratives and Conditional Inclusion in South Korea (In Press)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Hough ◽  
Markus Bell
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Korean Society ◽  
The Public ◽  
South Korean ◽  
The North ◽  
North And South

This article draws on the public testimonies of North Koreans living in South Korea (t’albungmin) and analyzes the role that these narratives play in South Korean society as mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion. North and South Korea technically remain at war, with South Korea claiming sovereignty over the entire Korean peninsula. While t’albungmin are eligible for South Korean citizenship, they describe feeling excluded from full social membership. Although some t’albungmin seek anonymity, this paper considers those who gain social status by speaking publicly about their lives and denouncing the North Korean regime. In so doing, they distance themselves from North Korea and align themselves with the “good” discourse of human rights. However, their actions reinforce a logic of exclusion, implying that t’albungmin who prefer anonymity are “sympathizers,” and consequently restricting their access to social benefits and resources. This case of conditional inclusion illuminates tensions that arise when a sovereignty claim entails the incorporation of people from an enemy state. It also highlights the carefully delineated boundaries of publicly acceptable behavior within which “suspect” citizens must remain as a condition for positive recognition.

Double the Fun: Pairs Skating Jumps

2018 ◽  
Vol 111 (4) ◽  
pp. 249-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Cheng ◽  
Maura Twillman
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Olympic Games ◽  
Figure Skating ◽  
Link Type ◽  
Winter Olympic Games ◽  
World Champion

The 2018 Winter Olympic Games will take place on February 9-25, 2018, in Pyeongchang, South Korea. One of the featured Olympic sports is figure skating. Jumps are an exciting part of singles and pairs figureskating events. View a video of the 2015 and 2016 world champion Canadian pair Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford performing their winning free skate at the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships (their side-byside jump entry begins at 1:07 in the video): http://web.icenetwork.com/video/topic/174637818/v571390583

Coercion or Engagement? A Quantitative Test of the Effect of Regional Actors on North Korean Behaviour 1990–2000

2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme A. M. Davies
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
Small Error ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Kim Il Sung ◽  
The North ◽  
Behavioural Patterns ◽  
Kim Jong Il ◽  
The Us

The Korean peninsula is one of the most dangerous places on the planet. Decisions relating to the peninsula are for high stakes, and one small error can potentially result in an enormously destructive war. This article seeks to assess whether strategies of engagement or coercion can improve the chances of North Korea co-operating with either the US or South Korea. Using Vector Autoregression (VAR) techniques I assess the behavioural patterns of the North Korean regime in response to the actions of the states involved in the six-party talks between 1990 and 2000. The article finds that there were dramatic differences between the negotiating strategies employed by both Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in their dealings with both the US and South Korea. The results suggest that, in being able to manipulate US foreign policy, the North Koreans are punching well above their weight and that the chances of a meaningful settlement with the regime of Kim Jong Il are very small.

scholarly journals The Effect of US Foreign Policy on the Relationship Between South and North Korea: Time Series Analysis of the Post-Cold War Era

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong-Han Yoon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Behavior Pattern ◽  
The United States ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Triangular Relationship ◽  
The Relationship

In this study, I examine the effect of US foreign policy on the relationship between South Korea and North Korea. In particular, I analyze whether two different foreign policy approaches—the hard-line approach and the soft-line approach—have played a role in advancing or slowing steps toward peace in the Korean peninsula. I use the Integrated Data for Events Analysis dataset for the period 1990–2004. By employing a Vector Autoregression model, which analyzes the behavioral patterns of South and North Korea and the United States, I find that US foreign policy affects the relationship between the two Koreas by affecting North Korea's behavior toward South Korea. The triangular relationship among the United States, North Korea, and South Korea shows a reciprocal behavior pattern. This finding suggests that a soft-line and reciprocal US foreign policy toward North Korea is critical to maintaining peace in the Korean peninsula.

Southeast Asia’s Roles in Inter-Korean Affairs

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (03) ◽  
pp. 50-58
Author(s):  
Erik MOBRAND ◽  
Hyejin KIM
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
The South ◽  
The North ◽  
International Engagement

Southeast Asia’s significance to the Korean peninsula is growing. South Korea has deepening trade, investment and assistance relationships in the region, while ASEAN’s non-judgmental approach to diplomacy is useful in dealing with Pyongyang. Beyond hosting summits between American and North Korean leaders, Southeast Asia is in a position to mediate North Korea’s greater international engagement and to assist in the acceleration of interaction between the North and the South.

Lopsided Security on the Korean Peninsula

Asian Survey ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Kil Joo Ban
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Gray Zone ◽  
Nuclear Program ◽  
The North ◽  
Conventional Weapons

North Korea’s asymmetric provocations over the last decades can be classified into two periods: tactical provocations at sea in 1970–1990 and strategic (nuclear) provocations in 2000–2020. What is the logic underlying the North Korean imbroglio? And how does the former period differ from the latter? The first set of provocations was intended to shift the threat imbalance caused by a widening gap in conventional military capabilities into a balance of insecurity, where the weaker North Korean side faced South Korea and the combined ROK–US forces. The second set was intended to shift the balance of insecurity into an imbalance of terror while ensuring that only Pyongyang would be armed with nuclear weapons in the area. The “gray zone” discourse of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula (rather than North Korea) ended up bolstering North Korea’s nuclear program, while South Korea intensified only its conventional weapons program.

President Moon Jae-in's Policy on the Settlement of the Inter-Korean Relations: Searching for a Balance between the Desirable and the Possible

2021 ◽  
pp. 107-117
Author(s):  
Valery Yu. Mishin ◽  
◽  
Anna V. Simonenok ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
North Korea ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
The South ◽  
The North ◽  
The Republic

Moon Jae-in came to power in May 2017 in the wake of the Korean political crisis and impeachment of the previous president Park Geyn-hye. Since the very first days of his leadership President Moon has set a course for a sequential transformation of the inter-Korean relations and prevention of the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula. The cornerstone of his program was the idea that the denuclearization of North Korea and the establishment of the long-lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula is possible provided that the North-South relations are normalized and Pyongyang is involved into the constructive peaceful dialogue. The authors demonstrate how Moon Jae-in was able to start the renaissance in the inter-Koran relations. He used the experience of the previous liberal governments of the Republic of Korea and successfully developed and enhanced the famous Sunshine Policy with his own ideas. The first stage of Moon Jane-in's presidency was marked with some serious foreign policy achievements. Thanks to the tactic of “summit diplomacy” President Moon was able to achieve significant reduction in tensions on the Korean Peninsula, which resulted in the fact that relations between the North and the South became more friendly and trustworthy. The historical documents signed during these summits - the Panmunjom Declaration (April 2018) and the Comprehensive Military Agreement (September 2018) - and their fast practical implementation can also be considered as President Moon's success. Further advancement of Moon Jae-in's course for building positive relationships with the DPRK faced serious obstruction from the United States. The authors show how simultaneously with settlement of inter-Korean relations President Moon had to deal with another difficult task - neutralization of the external factors (US sanctions and disagreements between Washington and Pyongyang) that were harmful for the development of the North Korea-South Korea relations. The tactics of being a mediator between the United States and North Korea chosen by Moon Jae-in was quite efficient in the beginning. The blatant enemies - Pyongyang and Washington - clamped down on their confrontation and sat at the negotiating table. However, the intransigence of Washington on the issue of a gradual and phase-based denuclearization of North Korea and withdrawal of sanctions altogether with the non-constructive criticism of the South Korean opposition made Moon Jae-in a hostage of the situation, limiting his potentially independent and substantive steps in foreign policy. Meanwhile, the authors of the research have come to the conclusion that on some issues President Moon was able to achieve much more than his predecessors. Despite the fact that he was unable to achieve a full-scaled settlement of the inter-Korean relations he did everything possible under the existing circumstances. Nowadays one can say that the challenges of the North Korean nuclear missile program and security on the Korean Peninsula are no longer entirely military topics, they are even more likely to be diplomatic issues. This fact is un-doubtfully his great accomplishment. Thus, it is possible to foresee good perspectives for the further declining level of the regional tensions and for the development of the inter-Korean relations.

South Korea’s middle power diplomacy: A case of growing compatibility between regional and global roles

2016 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 587-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jongryn Mo
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Structural Constraints ◽  
Middle Power ◽  
The North ◽  
International Pressure ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Power Role ◽  
Domestic Support

South Korea has emerged as a new middle power that plays a significant role in a wide range of important global issue areas and supports liberal international order with its leadership diplomacy. Even though regional challenges will continue to demand large foreign policy resources including time, human resources, and budget, the middle power orientation of South Korean foreign policy behaviour and strategy—for example, multilateralism, the rule of law, and promotion of cooperation and compromise—will remain in place even in the conduct of regional foreign policy. This optimism is based on the fact that South Korea is a middle power not only in global governance but also in the East Asian region. Even on the issue of North Korea’s nuclear weapons, the most important foreign policy challenge of the day, the South has accepted the regionalization of the issue and, over time, its middle power role. It has relied on the middle power strategy of mobilizing international pressure on the North rather than deploying and strengthening its unilateral options such as the use of force or massive economic aid. In order to fully realize the promise and potential of middle power diplomacy, however, South Korea must make strong efforts to alleviate structural constraints on a middle power strategy. First, Korean leaders should undertake a full-scale campaign to de-nationalize Korean education and, thus, Korean foreign policy orientations. Second, a strong domestic consensus should emerge giving the national interest precedence over group interests when dealing with foreign policy challenges. Finally, political leaders and diplomats must create new opportunities in global governance and deliver tangible national benefits through middle power diplomacy. Middle power diplomacy, like all foreign policy strategies, will not be sustainable without strong domestic support; and domestic support cannot be built on goodwill and commitment to universal values alone.

South Korean Politics and Foreign Policy in 2017 and 2018

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (01) ◽  
pp. 123-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaewoo CHOO
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
South Korea ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
North Korea ◽  
The United States ◽  
Basic Strategy ◽  
South Korean ◽  
The North ◽  
High Altitude Area

The election of Moon Jae-in in South Korea signals a shift to a more conciliatory approach towards North Korea. Moon’s basic strategy towards the North contradicts that of the United States, emphasising a “dual-track” policy of seeking North Korea’s denuclearisation while calling for dialogue to facilitate inter-Korean summit and not North Korea’s denuclearisation. Moon’s acceptance of China’s “Three oppositions” to the deployment of Terminal High Altitude Area Defence is controversial as they are not within Korea’s jurisdiction.

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