South Korea's foreign policy and public engagement

Foreign policy engagement has never been a strong point for South Korea’s presidential administrations

South Korea faces some momentous foreign policy challenges: addressing North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs; seeking redress of China’s economic sanctions against the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) deployment; strengthening relations with Japan; and dealing with the Trump administration. But with every step, South Korea faces a greater challenge — and it’s not North Korea, China, Japan, or the US. Rather, it’s South Korea’s own population. How do you engage politically polarised and protest-ready citizens?

Foreign policy engagement has never been a strong point for South Korea’s presidential administrations. This can be blamed on culture, security or even recent history.

Culturally, South Korea’s public administration inherits a degree of Confucian scholarly aloofness. Administrators are meant to be benevolent, and deserving of obeisance, leading to a sense of separation and a reduced need for discussion or explanation. An individual or group can petition (a lower sub…