Quasi-Alliance at Play: The Curious Case of South Korea’s Aborted Withdrawal from GSOMIA in 2019

This study aims to explain why countries maintain security cooperation with a partner even though they are in the middle of severe tensions. This is experienced by the Republic of Korea (ROK), which preferred to maintain its security cooperation with Japan under the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA). This research utilizes the concept of abandonment fears to explain South Korea's behavior in reversing its self-declared withdrawal from GSOMIA in 2019. By conducting a deductive-qualitative research approach, this research shows that South Korea was in a position of abandonment fears—fears of being ignored by Japan—magnified by the uncertainty of US commitment. For now, South Korea considers Japan as the most likely partner choice in the region. Thus, Seoul decided to maintain the partnership with Japan within the GSOMIA framework and compromise its grievances with the latter

The 1927 “Emetine Injection Incident” in Colonial Korea and the Intervention of Korean Western-Trained Doctors

The major cause of 1927s so-called Emetine Injection Incident was the compulsory administration of emetine injections instituted by the colonial Korean sanitary police system, which aimed to create a hygienic environment for Koreans in a cost-effective manner. Though some Koreans criticized this compulsory police-administered treatment, this incident did not serve as a turning point that led either to the improvement or abolishment of the sanitary police system. After officially confirming that patients were poisoned, the Hanseong Medical Association (HMA) did not try to use the incident as a chance to raise their voice to improve the colonial medical system. Given that the aim of the HMA was to benefit medical practitioners, intervening in administrative actions may have laid outside its domain of interest. The HMA, as well as other Korean political organizations, failed to harness the anger generated by this incident to improve the sanitary environment in Korea. However, after the risks of the injection were publicized, Koreans began to be suspicious of injections performed by the police. The Emetine Incident led Korean people to see the sanitary policy of the colonial government from a different angleope

The Evolution of the ROK - U.S. Relations: A Multi-Method Analysis

This dissertation examines the relations between South Korea and the United States and how they have evolved and what affected changes in these relations by focusing on the national development of South Korea. To address these two questions, this dissertation adopts both historical and empirical analysis. Historical analysis analyzes the evolution of the ROK - U.S. relations from the beginning to the present based on the framework of alliance theories such as the formation, maintenance, and termination of the alliance. Empirical analysis focused on factors affecting the relations between South Korea and the U.S. It adopts multiple regression analysis with event data from 1990 to 2011. This dissertation argues three situational changes affect the evolution of the ROK - U.S. relations. The results of both historical and empirical analysis support that the three major changes such as the end of the Cold War, the economic growth, and political democratization in South Korea have a significant effect on the relations between the U.S. and South Korea. In particular, it is meaningful that domestic changes in South Korea affect the ROK - U.S. relations. This result signifies less asymmetric relations between the two states. The changes in the alliance dilemma of South Korea also suggest a less asymmetric relationship. Furthermore, the enhanced economic interdependence and shared democracy enhances the relations of the two states. Therefore, this dissertation concludes that the relations between the U.S. and South Korea become less and less asymmetric from the 1990s until the present

The FIFA World Cup, International Friendship and the ‘Mystery Men of the East’: When Middlesbrough Fell in Love with North Korea

Purpose: This article explores the evolution of international bonds between Middlesbrough in the north east of England and North Korea arising from the participation of the North Korean men’s football team at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. Shedding new light on the origins of this example of sporting diplomacy, this research seeks to understand the dynamics of international relations enacted at a local level and highlights the role of key individuals and institutions in facilitating this connection between the town and North Korea into the twenty-first century. Design, Methodology, Approach: Beginning with an assessment of early interactions between Middlesbrough and North Korea, this paper analyses the way in which the relationship has been articulated and developed across several decades. Drawing upon local authority archives, historic newspaper collections, oral history and private collections, this study brings together hitherto underexplored resources, including North Korean diplomatic correspondence and interviews with the footballers of 1966, to deconstruct the multi-layered mechanisms, meanings and motivations that underpin the Middlesbrough-Pyongyang relationship. Findings: Focusing chiefly on the role of British agency in North Korea-UK interactions, this research reveals the combination of local sporting conditions, international relations and individual and institution engagement in constructing bonds between Middlesbrough and North Korea since 1966. In doing so, the article draws out some of the peculiar local, economic and political factors that have shaped and nurtured the sporting, pseudo-diplomatic connections between Pyongyang and Teesside. Practical Implications: This study highlights the important role that sport can play in harnessing new international interactions and understandings between peoples from different cultural and political systems. The power of football and bonds created at a local level (in this case Middlesbrough) to help nurture international diplomatic relations and embrace common transnational interests is also considered, as are the limitations of what might be considered a strand or extension of sports diplomacy. Originality, Value: Expanding beyond the existing literature on sports diplomacy, mega events and official interactions between North Korea and the UK, this article utilises hitherto unpublished historical documentation and new oral testimony to bring a new perspective on the benefits and challenges posed by interactions across international borders facilitated by sport, both at the FIFA World Cup in 1966 and in recent decades