[Citizen College Season 3] Comparison of Northeast Asian countries’ diplomatic strategic tactics

On December 13, 2019, the 12th lecture of the Citizens College Season 3 “Citizens and the World: Peace on the Korean Peninsula and International Politics” was given at Korea University’s Political Science & Economics Bldg. 101. The 12th lecture was given by Kim Doo-jin, a professor at the Institute for Peace and Democracy at Korea University.

Under the title of “Comparison of Northeast Asian Nations’ Foreign Policy Strategies,” it was a time to explore the nature and characteristics of diplomacy, and to look at foreign strategic tactics and international relations of East Asian countries.

Mutualism is the basis of all diplomacy, and the key is secrecy. Transparency and openness in diplomacy are required, and it is important to inform the public, seek understanding, and pursue diplomacy amid national consensus. Nevertheless, the need for secrecy in diplomacy remains unchanged. Also, it is very dangerous to be obsessed with national sentiment. Therefore, the process of persuading the people is necessary. There are no internationally established principles in national relations. There are no universal standards and answers, but a major factor in determining foreign policy in general is ‘national interest’. In the event of a conflict between international law and international ethics, countries put their foreign policy first in consideration of national interests. Also, the values and beliefs of foreign policy decision makers are important. For example, U.S. President Carter has engaged in human rights-related foreign policy.

The United States wants to form a regional alliance, and China wants to loosen it. Currently, Korea is balanced between the U.S. and China, but Korea’s balanced diplomacy will no longer be easy. Under these circumstances, the ROK-U.S. alliance should be weighed. However, we must recognize that China’s strategic assets are also very important to Korea. This is because China’s cooperation is very necessary not only to deal with economic relations, but also to deal with Korean Peninsula issues.

In the past, Korea-Japan relations were dominated by Korea’s offensive against Japan’s past provocations and Japan’s defense. More recently, however, Japan takes a aggressive attitude about ‘Japanese military sexual slavery, laborers’ issues,  Korea takes defending attitude. Also, the Korea-Japan conflict appears to be spreading. It’s spreading from historical issues to political issues to economic and security.

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