Korea’s middle power activism and peacekeeping operations

Sangtu Ko ()

Asia Europe Journal, 2012, vol. 10, issue 4, 287-299

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. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2012

Date: 2012
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DOI: 10.1007/s10308-012-0332-4

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