The role of identity in South Korea’s policies towards Japan

Minseon Ku

The role of identity in South Korea’s policies towards Japan

Korean Social Science Journal
Abbr : KSSJ
2016, 43(2), pp.75-94
Publisher : Korean Social Science Research Council
Research Area : Social Science > Social Science in general
Published : December 1, 2016

Minseon Ku ¹

¹연세대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper asks why South Korea’s relations with Japan is so vulnerable to disputes over history in the post-Cold War period. It argues that South Korea’s identities vis-a`-vis Japan and North Korea respectively conflict with each other and leads to inconsistent policy towards Japan that hovers between cooperation and discord. By analyzing South Korea’s relations with Japan as well as its policies and behavior in the post-Cold War period, this paper aims to show how identity factor affects a state’s foreign policy and behavior towards other states. In doing so, it questions the rationality assumption of state behavior in IR and offers alternative explanations on how to better understand ‘‘emotional’’ foreign policies.

KEYWORDS

Identity Foreign policy Ontological security Constructivism

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

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