Globalization and External Relations Impact

¶ … globalization and external relations impact on South Korean politics?

External relations affect and change South Korean politics and its position toward the United States in so far that it may come to contradicting terms for some important issues. The way the United Stated chooses to handle its relationship with North Korea is influencing the political class made mainly of the 368 generation.

South Korea's most important foreign relation, that with its neighbor North Korea went through a series of changes due to two main factors: South Korea's enormous economic advancement since the 1960s and North Korea's downfall. The two opponents changed in economic potential in a reversed proportion. The Bush administration chose not to continue in the spirit of increased cooperation between the United States and North Korea, triggering a negative reaction from the South Korean partner. "In an address to the World Affairs Council of Los Angeles in November 2004, President Roh unequivocally stated that South Korea would be op-posed to policies of military attack, containment, or regime change toward North Korea, even though Washington had made it clear that these options remained on the table" (Kim&Lim 2007, 77).

In spite of the nuclear tests performed by North Korea in 2006, South Korea expressed its intentions to continue the economic cooperation initiated as a part of the agreements relating to the management of foreign relation in the triangle: United States, South and North Korea.

The second most important Asian partner, China has undergone tremendous changes in economic a political terms. Even if the country is still governed by a communist regime, its globally integrated economy and normalization of relations with South Korea since 1992 led to a shift in this relationship, too. China became the most important export partner for South Korea, overcoming by a percent the amount of exports South Korea had with the United States. On the other side, China's relations with North Korea causes another reasons for concerns in the South Korean side (Kim&Lim 2007, 78). According to Kim and Lim, South Korea is not shifting toward a political assertiveness to China, to the loss of the cooperative relations with the United States.

South Korea's ambitions to develop economically and its self-assertive aspirations placed the country in the race for integration in a more and more global economy. "Kim Young-sam's globalization was primarily a status drive, an easy way of projecting a new Korean national identity -- as a newly industrialized and democratized country deserving membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)" (the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York 2000, 3). The economic recovery under the government of president Kim Young-sam and eventually the economic boom led to an exaggerated increase in foreign direct investment and in domestic lending. South Korea became a liberalized economy too rapidly. The liberalization by all means led to the creation of conditions that encouraged the unrestricted and unmonitored circulation of large amounts of money. The politics of the south Korean government also discouraged the foreign investments for fear of losing the country's financial independence (idem, 6).

The downsides of the globalization affected South Korea just like it affected every other developed country. The need for importing working force became more evident once the South Korean society experienced the flaws characteristic for economically developed societies: population aging and low birth rates. The country needs more and more infusions of working forces from abroad in spite of its initially high degree of ethnic homogeneity. Globalization brought un unprecedented flow of workers all around the world. South Korea's politics towards immigration have to change in order to adapt to the country's new needs in terms of working force. "Although the proportion of foreigners in Korea represents a little over 1 per cent of the total population of 48 million as of the end of 2005, chances are, & #8230;, that the country will become a multiracial and multiethnic society in the near future"(Kim 2009, 71).

The economic development of South Korea, in the context of globalization, also led to the country's vulnerability. Once the economic partners, especially the countries that were the major import partners, experienced economic recession, South Korea, like the rest of the world, was subject to a recession. Many of the Asian countries that were a few years ago were praised for their rapid and sustained economic development were proven to have encouraged unsound practices like an unlimited and uncontrolled overinvestment from the part of business groups that were receiving the protection of corrupt officials. However, South Korea was able to swing the negative effects of an economic downfall of the Asia tigers toward a rapid change in economic policies. "In the six months between mid-September 2001 and mid-March 2002, the stock market has risen by nearly 90%"(Noland 2002). The economic policies undertaken under the new government were, as shown before, encouraging investments at any cost and a high rate of domestic indebt. "Property prices are up in Seoul, credit card lending more than doubled last year, and household debt has risen from 18% of GDP to 62% in two years, the fastest growth rate in the world, achieving in two years what it took notoriously profligate U.S. households a decade to accomplish" (idem).

New organizations and the 368 generation will further change South Korean politics mainly toward its number one partner. Domestic non-governmental organizations and international public opinion makers, as well as a more democratic South Korean regime than ever pushed the balance in favor of an altered relationship with the United States. Since the 1990s, the decentralized South Korean government gave way to local organizations and institutions to thrive and take over the control. The change in politics was thus inevitable. People were more and more aware and willing to seek and judge flaws in the actual state of affairs in the relationships the country had with international partners. The United States lost their invincible aura and the politics following the 9/11 attacks were not destined to encourage the South Koreans into continuing their parents' views of the role the United States played in their country's destinies. "In May 2000, officials of the fourteen local governments that house U.S. bases established a "nationwide consultative body" of local governments and latter submitted legislation to the national Assembly that called for increased central government grants and aid to local governments, the establishment of local development committees at central and local levels, and through environmental impact assessments undertaken by the national government around U.S. base areas" (Moon 2004, 46).