Softly does it for South Korea as it looks to the future

Published on Friday 13 November 2009 21:23

WHEN the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met in Thailand last month, South Korea was an important presence.

Quietly, South Korea has moved away from being defined by its problematic North Korean neighbour and is becoming an important middle-ranking power in global affairs.

A South Korean is secretary-general of the United Nations, Seoul will host next year's G20 summit and the country has reached a free-trade agreement with the European Union.

This was not always so. If geography is destiny, South Korea was dealt a weak hand. Wedged into an area where three giants – China, Japan and Russia – confront one another, Korea has had a difficult history of developing sufficient "hard" military power to defend itself. Indeed, at the beginning of the 20th century, Korea became a colony of Japan.

After the Second World War, the peninsula was divided along the lines of Cold War bipolarity, and American and UN intervention was necessary to prevent South Korea's subjugation in the Korean War. More recently, despite its impressive hard-power resources, South Korea has found that an alliance with a distant power like the US continues to provide a useful insurance policy for life in a difficult neighbourhood.

In a recent survey of G20 nations published in the newspaper Chosun Ilbo, the Hansun Foundation ranked South Korea 13th in the world in terms of national power. South Korea ranked ninth in hard-power resources, but performed more poorly in soft power.

In the newspaper's words: "State-of-the-art factories, hi-tech weapons, advanced information communications infrastructure are the key components that a country must have for stronger international competitiveness." But for these "hard-power" ingredients to become true engines of the country's growth and prosperity, they must be backed by more sophisticated and efficient "soft power".

South Korea has impressive soft-power potential. Many countries smaller than South Korea do well with soft power. The political clout of Canada, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian states is greater than their military and economic weight, owing to the incorporation of attractive causes, such as economic aid or peacemaking, in their definitions of their national interest.

Moreover, South Korea has a compelling story to tell. In 1960, it had approximately the same level of economic wealth as Ghana, one of the more prosperous of the newly independent countries in Africa. Today, the two countries are vastly different. Over the next half-century, South Korea became the world's 11th-largest economy, with per-capita income reaching more than $15,000 (9,000). It joined the OECD and is an important member of the G20. It has become the home of world-famous brands and a leader in the adoption of the internet and information technology.

Even more important, South Korea developed a democratic political system, with free elections and peaceful transfer of power between different political parties. Human rights are well protected, as is freedom of speech.

South Koreans often complain about the disorderliness of their political system, and the Hansun Foundation Report rated South Korea 16th among the G20 in the efficiency of legislative activities and 17th in political stability and efficiency.

According to the survey, "The low standings are not surprising, given habitually violent clashes between governing and opposition parties over sensitive bills and unending bribery scandals involving politicians."

Nevertheless, while improvement in these areas would certainly enhance South Korea's soft power, the very fact of having an open society that is able to produce and discuss such criticisms makes South Korea attractive.

Finally, there is the attractiveness of South Korean culture. The traditions of Korean art, crafts and cuisine have already spread around the world. Korean popular culture has also crossed borders, particularly among younger people in neighbouring Asian countries, while the impressive success of the Korean diaspora in the United States has further enhanced the attractiveness of the culture and country from which they came.

In short, South Korea has the resources to produce soft power, and its soft power is not prisoner to the geographical limitations that have constrained its hard power throughout its history. As a result, South Korea is beginning to design a foreign policy that will allow it to play a larger role in the international institutions and networks that will be essential to global governance.

&#149 Joseph S Nye teaches at Harvard and is the author of The Powers to Lead and Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics.