Suchergebnisse

"Kim examines the impact of domestic politics in accomplishing South Korea's middle power diplomacy through the provision of foreign aid. Since the 2000s, the rise of emerging nations as donors has brought about a remarkable transition in the international development community. South Korea has closed the gap with other Development Assistance Committee donors in terms of the quality of its aid. In doing so it has taken on a more active role as a middle power, acting as an agenda-setter and a mediator in the field of development and many other wide policy areas including trade, finance, environment, security, and peacekeeping. What factors, then, have encouraged South Korea to maintain and enhance the existing international development system? Not only how they behave, but also how their behaviour is determined is essential to truly understand the impact of emerging donors on the existing order. Kim highlights the significance of domestic politics in determining South Korea's foreign aid behaviour, framing it in terms of South Korea's wider middle power diplomatic strategy. This book will be of great value to scholars of South Korean politics and foreign policy, as well as to international relations scholars with an interest in the foreign aid policy of middle powers"--

Since the early 2010s, South Korea has increased its official development assistance (ODA) to Myanmar. Previous studies have highlighted the economic benefits of ODA to both South Korea and Myanmar, but the political motivations of Seoul's ODA policy towards Naypyidaw have received less scholarly attention. To fill this literature gap, this article analyses the three political factors underlying South Korea's increased ODA to Myanmar over the past ten years: Seoul's considerations regarding North Korea; South Korea's geopolitical competition with China and Japan; and the domestic constituents of ODA policymaking in South Korea. Adopting the concepts of realism and soft power, this article argues that national security interests and political motivations, including the intentions of ODA policymakers led by the president, have been important drivers of South Korea's increased ODA to Myanmar. In examining the role of domestic policymaking dynamics, this article uses as a case-study the K-town project in Myanmar which figured in the 2016 Choi Soon-sil-Gate scandal. (Contemp Southeast Asia/GIGA)