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| 1 |
ID:
116679
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2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This paper deals with Korea's peacekeeping operations (PKO) activities that are important to assess its middle power activism. The numbers of Korean PKO troops lessened drastically during the period 2003-2007. The purpose of this paper's analysis is to discover the determinants of this drastic change. For the analysis, economic growth and state budgets are classified as economic factors, while partisanship and political leadership are classified as political factors. The analysis led to the following conclusion. Regarding economic factors, the economic growth and the state and defense budget stay relatively constant and do not match the fluctuation of the PKO activities in Korea. Regarding political factors, there is no correspondence between partisanship and the PKO policy, because the liberal governments of Kim Dae Jung and Roh Moo Hyun implemented different PKO policies. The political leadership factor appears to be rather significant. Both Kim Dae Jung and Lee Myung Bak eagerly seek international cooperation. In contrast, Roh Moo Hyun emphasizes self-reliance. Thus, we conclude that the political leadership factor is most likely to influence the fluctuation of PKO activities in Korea.
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| 2 |
ID:
108568
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2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Despite constant fluctuations between tensions and detente on the Korean peninsula,
the crisis in 2010, including the Cheonan sinking and the Yeonpyong Island
shelling has proved to become the most dangerous in decades-without obvious
new reasons or new contradictions to justify it. After President Lee Myung Bak's
coming to power in South Korea, Pyongyang developed suspicions over his new
hard-line stance and demands for denuclearization. North Korea thought that
Seoul's call for reforms were merely a cover to undermine their regime and it
took seriously the desire by Southern conservatives for "early reunification" and
thus resorted to military provocations. Meanwhile, the U.S. Obama administration
chose to abstain from any meaningful policy toward North Korea, while China
played a more active role in supporting Pyongyang and Russian policy, which is
based on the priority of peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. All issues
should be decided by political and diplomatic means without the use of force,
threats, pressure, or isolation. Improvements in North-South relations, DPRK
dialogue with the West, and a multilateral format are essential prerequisites for
realizing a new security system in Korea that takes into account the interests of all
parties. Only this can avert a new crisis. The author suggests a return to engagement
and the promotion of slow evolutionary changes in North Korea by giving the
current ruling elite tangible guarantees of security on the condition that the North
would change its domestic and international behavior.
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