Moon Jae-in — 9DASHLINE

South Korea's midterm election tests democratic resilience

Written by Dr Hannes B. Mosler

The short-term challenge of this election is to prevent a conservative majority in parliament, lest the current autocratic episode in South Korean democracy turn into a post-democratic vortex.

East Asia9DLApril 9, 2024HANNES B. MOSLER, South Korea's midterm election tests democratic resilience, 9Dashline, South Korea, democracy, election, parliament, midterm election, democratic resilience, K-pop, Park Geun-hye, Park Geun-hye’s impeachment, corruption, FES Human Rights Prize, mass demonstrations, democracy research, formal democracy, Moon Jae-in, President Yoon Suk-yeol, democracy problem, democratisation, democracy index, V-DEM, South Korea’s democracy, backsliding, autocratizing country, autocratisation, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Liberal Democracy Index, negative campaigning, governance failures, New Right ideology, Itaewon disaster, press freedom, labour rights, ageing society, inflation, real estate prices, medical schools, political parties, President Yoon's inauguration, party leadership, People Power Party (PPP), Lee Jae-myung, Democratic Party (DP), electoral law reform, National Assembly, satellite parties, Justice Minister Cho Kuk, Rebuilding Korea Party, Public Official Election Act, constituency, lame-duck, lame duck, Yoon’s ‘lame duck’ presidency, post-democratic

Evaluating South Korea's democratic backsliding

Written by Dr Mi-son Kim

The current state of South Korean politics suggests that the country is at a critical moment that could determine its fate: democratic backsliding or consolidation.

East Asia9DLOctober 9, 20239dashline, Evaluating South Korea's democratic backsliding, Dr Mi-son Kim, Park Geun-hye, South Korea, impeachment, abuse of power, corruption, Constitutional Court of Korea, candlelight protests, protests, demonstrations, democratic consolidation, President Park, partisan polarisation, concentration of power, Moon Jae-in, Yoon Suk-yeol, weak legislature, Park administration, opposition parties, Labour Reform Act, Service Industry Development Act, bipartisan bill, National Assembly Act, Saenuri Party, democratic transition, veto, Yoo Seung-min, cabinet appointments, presidential impeachment, Democratic Party, Supreme Prosecutor, Korean presidents, National Intelligence Service, Yoon administration, Han Dong-hoon, Park Geun-hye administration, personalist political systems, Kaesong Industrial Complex, North Korea, nuclear, US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, THAAD, Sewol ferry, Japan, hyper-partisan, hostile rhetoric, Lee Myung-bak, coercive state apparatuses, Board of Audit and Inspection, Anything but Moon (ABM), political volatility, democratic backsliding

No country for asylum-seekers: The complexity of refugee protection in South Korea

Written by Dr Angela Y. McClean

South Korea’s migration agenda has primarily been utilitarian, prioritising migrant populations that are deemed undisruptive to the Korean social and ethnic makeup, and necessary to the development of the nation, while imposing restrictions on those who are not.

Conservative zealots: Evangelical politics in South Korea

Written by Dr Yong Jae Kim

The critical conundrum for the political success of conservative evangelicals nowadays lies in the uncertainty of the relationship between evangelicals and the established conservative parties.

'Thawing' between Seoul and Tokyo — A false spring?

Written by Kevin Gray

The apparent ‘thaw’ of Korea-Japan relations is likely to be a ‘false spring’ rather than a genuine new era of bilateral relations and broader regional cooperation.

East Asia9DLApril 7, 20239dashline, 'Thawing' between Seoul and Tokyo - a false spring?, south korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, japan, Fumio Kishida, diplomatic relations, wartime forced labour, bilateral relations, Korean Supreme Court, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Korean families, WW2, forced labour, Kevin Gray, compensation for victims, financial compensation, export restrictions, key chemical exports, semiconductors, public outrage, Japanese goods, bilateral cooperation, regional ramifications, trilateral Japan-South Korea-US cooperation, China, North Korea, Japan-South Korea-US cooperation, Washington, trilateral alliance, security realm, military intelligence-sharing pact, Biden administration, Seoul, Anthony Blinken, ROK, allies, reconciliation, colonised country, colonising country, historical animosities., Park Jin, Foreign Minister Park Jin, Tokyo, apologies, wartime sexual slavery, Shinzo Abe, Japanese history textbooks, Japanese war crimes, colonial history, comfort women, 2015 ‘comfort women’ agreement, comfort women statues, grievances, geopolitical imperatives, decolonisation, Cold War imperatives, 1965 Treaty of Basic Relations, Park Chung-hee, developmental drive, popular protests, private claims for compensation, historical injustices, Park Geun-hye, Moon Jae-in, candlelight revolution, Democratic Party, Yoon government, Dokdo/Takeshima, 'Thawing' between Seoul and Tokyo — a false spring?, 'THAWING' BETWEEN SEOUL AND TOKYO — A FALSE SPRING?

Seoul’s Indo-Pacific strategy will not make big waves in Southeast Asia

Written by Alessandro Vesprini and Matteo Piasentini

The best option for South Korea is to double down on diplomacy, economic ties, and military sales, as well as tighten the dialogue with like-minded middle powers in the region.

East Asia9DLFebruary 28, 20239dashline, Seoul’s Indo-Pacific strategy will not make big waves in Southeast Asia, Alessandro Vesprini, Matteo Piasentini, Seoul, south korea, Southeast Asia, 23rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ROK, ASEAN summit, ASEAN-ROK summit, Strategy for a Free, Peaceful, and Prosperous Indo-Pacific Region, Indo-Pacific, Yoon, Yoon Suk-yeol, rules-based order, New Southern Policy, Moon Jae-in, China, Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative, KASI, ASEAN Member States, ASMs, Indo-Pacific Strategy, rules-based international order, United States, US, Beijing, People, Prosperity, and Peace, NSP Plus, economic cooperation, bilateral relationships, principles of cooperation, Inclusiveness, Trust, and Reciprocity, building regional order, rule of law, human rights, non-proliferation, counter-terrorism, security cooperation, security and defence, Mekong-ROK, New Northern Policy, Pyongyang, strategic partnerships, multilateral trade deals, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Asia Power Index, ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific, AOIP, mechanisms of conflict management, 2022 ASEAN Summit, South China Sea, Global Pivotal Power, military capabilities, strategic constraints, security dialogue initiatives, autonomous foreign policy, US-China competition, North Korea, inter-Korean relations, soft power

Attentive friends, busy enemies, and a bright future — 2023 for North Korea

Written by Benedikt Staar

North Korean politics are strongly influenced by the regime’s friends, its enemies, and its own ambitions. As it turns out, things look promising for Pyongyang on all three fronts.

Best of 2022: The Indo-Pacific

Take this opportunity to review some of our most-read analyses from the past year on the evolving strategies of several countries toward the Indo-Pacific.

Faultlines9DLJanuary 2, 2023Preparing for a crowded Indo-Pacific: where to next?, Gabriele Abbondanza, Korea, indonesia, Australia, South Korea, Europe, indo-pacific, Is South Korea’s new Indo-Pacific strategy finally forthcoming?, Wongi Choe, Moon Jae-in, south korea, japan, australia, Elli Pohlkamp, Elli-Katharina Pohlkamp, Tokyo, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Free and Open Indo-Pacific, United States, China, Christiane Heidbrink, Putin, Germany, Scholz, Bundeswehr, Asia-Pacific, France, Rafael Loss, Elisabeth I-Mi Suh, Hamburg Institute for Peace Research, Berlin, The Bundeswehr in the Indo-Pacific, German Council on Foreign Relations, DGAP, The fate of the Indo-Pacific: Lessons from Ukraine and US diplomacy towards Taiwan, Reuben Steff, Martin Jirušek, US, Taiwan, The US should prioritise the Indo-Pacific over Ukraine, Aine Cooke

Japan’s ‘history problem’ lingers on after Abe

Written by Chris Deacon

Almost eight decades after the end of the Second World War, the legacy of Japan’s military expansionism and colonial rule across the Pacific continues to haunt its contemporary international politics, particularly within Northeast Asia.

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Is South Korea’s new Indo-Pacific strategy finally forthcoming?

Written by Wongi Choe

In contrast to the previous Moon Jae-in administration of the Republic of Korea (ROK), the new Yoon Suk-yeol government is highly likely to take on a new broader regional strategy with a comprehensive Indo-Pacific framework at its core.

What Kim Jong-un’s diplomacy tells us about Sino-NK relations

Written by Darcie Draudt

Looking forward to when the pandemic winds down, China will likely test the appetite in Pyongyang for bilateral and even multilateral meetings on denuclearisation and sanctions relief, especially at the working level.

Breaking the deadlock: The Japan-South Korea ‘comfort women’ dispute

Written by Wichuta Teeratanabodee

Events, such as the ROK reversing its decision to end the military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan due to threats from the North, have shown that the two countries can put aside their bitter relations to focus on regional threats.

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Cross-Strait relations amid the CPC’s centenary celebration

Written by Li-chia Lo

Strategic ambiguity used to provide a grey area for cross-strait communications and provided some stability in the region. But the CPC's "unshakeable commitment" may spell the end of strategic ambiguity and force all parties to play on their own terms.

'Deterrence and stern diplomacy': where do we go from here?

Written by Edward Howell

Growing tensions in Sino-US relations vis-à-vis Taiwan and the treatment of Uyghur minorities in Xinjiang only underscore the Biden administration’s policy of maintaining stability over the possible unintended consequences of any attempt to reach out to Kim Jong-un.

Editor's Picks, East Asia9DLJune 14, 20219dashline, Korea, North Korea, DPRK, biden, Trump, Moon Jae-in, South Korea, Japan, Pyongyang, Strategic Patience, Obama, Kim Jong-un, Xinjiang, Taiwan, Uyghur, Nuclear, denuclearisation, Panmunjom Declaration, Kaesong, DMZ, Edward Howell

South Korea navigates the Indo-Pacific

Written by Ramon Pacheco Pardo

Along with China and India, South Korea is one of the top three Asian manufacturers of vaccines. Thus, South Korean pharmaceutical firms are going to become critical to the rollout of vaccines across the Indo-Pacific region. The KORUS Global Vaccine Partnership (agreed to by Seoul and Washington) is a clear step in this direction.

East Asia9DLMay 31, 20219dashline, Korea, China, South Korea, United States, Biden, Moon Jae-in, COVID, COVID-19, Indo-Pacific, QUAD, Quad Plus, New Southern Policy, Trump, Obama, THAAD, Southeast Asia, KORUS, South China Sea, Europe, US Navy, ROK Navy, Gulf of Aden, Australia, India, France, Japan, South Asia

South Korea’s New Deal and its future diplomatic role

Written by Ingrid Rafaele Rodrigues Leiria

Seoul should use its high technology capabilities (in green and digital initiatives) to promote worldwide sustainable development, therefore, the Korean New Deal and the adaptation of eco-diplomacy must become an essential pillar of South Korea’s future foreign policy.

East Asia9DLFebruary 19, 2021Green New Deal, South Korea, Moon Jae-in, CO2, Covid-19, COVID, Carbon tax, 5G, 6G, Paris Agreement, Climate Change, China, Russia, North Korea, Korean Wave, K-Pop, Kpop, Seoul