Middle Powers in Great Powers’ Grand Strategy: Korea’s Soft Hedging in the East Asian Security Structure

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper attempts to find Korea’s foreign policy directives amid a constantly changing regional dynamic shaped by the United States and China (G-2). The future of the G-2 relationship is a decisive factor to the Korean Peninsula due to the structural influence and uncertainties it entails. When the two great powers’ grand strategies - strategy of primacy and neo-isolationism for the U.S., and strategy of status quo and revisionism for China –converge, a distinctive set of international order appears in the East Asian security structure. They are: hegemonic stability, power transition, concert of power, and balance-of-power. Although the four different security settings require Korea to adopt differing tactics, its broader strategic orientation should orient towards “soft hedging”, a strategic maneuver to maintain peaceful and strategic relations with both China and the U.S., while also broadly contributing to facilitating China’s integration into the American-led international system. Under the circumstances, Korea can play a pivotal role in East Asian international relations by effectively using its hard and soft power resources and legitimate status as a historical peace power. Furthermore, Korea can become an effective global player as an “interest mediator” between the developed and developing nations in the fields of non-traditional security issues such as environment, human security, international finance, free trade economy, human rights, and international development.

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