South Korea's changing middle power identities as response to North Korea

Abstract

South Korea has long been regarded as a middle power nation. Accession to Group of Twenty (G 20) status and membership of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development-Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) were heralded as confirmation of South Korea's status as 'global Korea' and a middle power and seemed to also confirm the rise of second-generation middle power activism, convenor-ship and leadership. The article explores how conventional IR realism and liberalism have yet to fully explain the emergence and role of network-based middle power leaders. The article assesses current strategic issues for South Korea in the context of North Korea's nuclear program and responses to it. From this, what emerges, are a number of strategic concerns and opportunities given the current power dynamic in the region that are currently identified as to enabling South Korea as a transforming middle power to confront what has recently been termed the new phenomenon of 'Korea passed.'