[Citizen College Season 7] #1 The War in Ukraine and the Change of International Politics

On April 26, 2023, the Seongbuk Adult Education School, PDI, and the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Korea University held the first lecture of the Citizen College Season 7  “Politics in Everyday Life” in Asiatic Research Institute, Korea University.  In this lecture Professor Lee Dong Sun from the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Korea University presented on the topic of “The War in Ukraine and the Change of International Politics”.

The lecture, titled “The War in Ukraine and the Change of International Politics”, deals with the causes and developments of the war and its impact on international politics and the Korean Peninsula. Russia feared losing its power status in the face of an expected decline in national power after a short-term rebound, and the expansion of the U.S.-led NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) made Russia afraid of losing a buffer zone. Russia invaded Ukraine with the goal of establishing a pro-Russian regime in Ukraine, but it was stalled after failing to win the initial maneuver due to insufficient mobilization, distribution of power, and Ukrainian military propaganda. This lecture discussed the Cold War between Russia and the West, the alliance between Russia and China, and China’s relative benefits from the US-Russia consumption of national power due to the international political influence of the war. As for the economic impact, the global economic crisis, including food shortages and energy crises, and the trend of each country’s emphasis on economic security, such as supply chain reorganization and the decline of free trade, were discussed. It predicted that there would be a crisis and opportunity for both the two Koreas as an impact on the Korean Peninsula, and that centrifugal force would be strengthened in inter-Korean relations.