Font Size: a A A

Theory Of Korean Culture And Its Diplomatic Influence

Posted on:2013-10-18Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:R P LiuFull Text:PDF
GTID:2246330371469417Subject:International relations
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
As an island country, surrounded with strong powers, South Korea affected byother countries is inevitable. The influences are apparent in its culture which affectedby the Confucianism Culture introduced from China, the culture of humiliationbecause of the Japanese colonization and the western democratic culture affected byAmerica.Before 1909, the Confucianism Culture had a great effect to South Korea inalmost every aspect such as politics, economy, social lives and so on. The ruling classmade Confucianism Culture as the orthodox culture so that it became very popular inSouth Korea. During the colonization of Japan, the Japanese government took somany ways to assimilate and destroy South Korea culture that the continuity of theSouth Korea culture was broken, and the people were deeply hurt. After World WarTwo, South Korea began their democratic reform under the guidance of the America,then Western culture affect South Korea gradually. The America government tookgood advantages of this opportunity to reform South Korea and set up a regimedepended on America. On the one hand, the South Korea government had to acceptthe reform to get aids from America, on the other hand, the America culture isattractive to South Korea. Although only dozens of years have past, America culturehas had great effect on South Korea. Actually, South Korea culture still belongs toConfucianism Culture. The experiences of the culture development in South Koreahave a great effect to the behavior of the country and the values of the people. Theculture influences the national interest, national power and the nationaldecision-making mechanism then to the foreign policy. Therefore, specialcharacteristics were formed, these are restrained foreign policies, president-centredecision-making mechanism and national inferiority complex.There are four parts in this article:The first part analyzed the relationship between culture and foreign policy. Thatincludes the concept of the culture and foreign policy, the relationship between cultureand foreign policy and the points of the three main contemporary western international relationship theories. There are different arguments in these three maincontemporary western international relationship theories, but all of them are in theinternational level not national level. The culture is not an independent unit inNeo-realism and Neo-liberalism until Constructivism.The second part analyzed the main composition of the South Korea culture. Inthis part I chose the culture that has great effect to the development of South Korea indifferent phase which include the Confucianism Culture introduced from China, theculture of humiliation because of the Japanese colonization and the westerndemocratic culture affected by America.The second part analyzed the main composition of the South Korea culture. Inthis part I chose the culture that has great effect to the development of South Korea indifferent phase which include the Confucianism Culture introduced from China, theculture of humiliation because of the Japanese colonization and the westerndemocratic culture affected by America. Confucianism Culture is in the core. Theeffect of the Confucianism Culture is still great, although after fifty years colonizationof Japan and the democratic reform by America. In recent years, the effects of westernculture become greater and great, but there is still a long way for the western cultureto surpass the Confucianism Culture. The main idea of the three kinds of culture andthe way to affect the South Korea culture are introduced here, so that the specialcharacteristics appear.The third part talked about the South Korea foreign policy influenced by itsculture. The culture influences the way to get national interest, the composition of thenational power and the form of the national decision-making mechanism then to theforeign policy. The national interests include territorial integrity, sovereign andindependent, the development of the economy. Some examples were given here: theunity of the Korea Peninsula, the dispute of the Dokdo, the anti-America movementand the economy take-off. The special South culture influenced the soft power of theSouth Korea which is an important part of the national power. The cultural foreignpolicies took by South Korea have great effect in Eastern Asia. It is helpful for SouthKorea to promote its international image, stimulate the development of economy and increase the employment. This effect is apparent in China, you can find the SouthKorea culture from food, entertainment to finery, electronic products. And the culturealso influenced the setting of the decision-making mechanism. Firstly, the culture setthe boundary for the foreign policy of South Korea which is also the bottom line forthe people. If the official of the foreign policy surpass this bottom line, they will notbe trusted by their people. For example if the national interest was damaged becauseof the foreign policy, the national humiliation deep in the heart of the people will bestimulated. In addition, the setting of the foreign policy decision-making mechanismis deeply influenced by the thought of“Separation of Powers”.The last part evaluated the foreign policy under the influence of its culture, andthere is something to learn for China. The South Korea foreign policy influenced byits culture is good for the promotion of the national, the development of the economy,the protection of the national interested, but the xenophobia of the people in SouthKorea is a big disadvantage for their national image. The culture and the historicalexperience in South Korea are similar with China. Both of the two countries belong toConfucianism Culture, experienced the invasion, troubled with the unity of thecountry and the development of the economy after World War Two. Now China isfacing“China Threat”, it is very meaningful for China to promote its internationalimage with its own soft power. There are more cultural resources for China to use, soit is very important for China to research the foreign policy of South Korea influencedby its culture.Different country has different culture and different historical experience.Influenced by its culture, the foreign policy of the country has its own characteristics.To research the foreign policy influenced by its culture is helpful to hold its direction,the foreign mistakes will be reduced too.
Keywords/Search Tags:culture, foreign policy, national interest, national power, foreign policy decision-making mechanism
PDF Full Text Request
Related items