IN SEARCH AND THE CAPACITY FOR A NEW

NICHE:

Reorienting South Korean Middle Power

Leadership and its Readiness and
Willingness in the Context of the G20
Opportunity

The Catholic University of Korea

PRESENTATION OUTLINE
I. Introduction

II. The incomplete but necessary dimensions of capability:

External pulls and internal pushes as leadership capital

III. Putting will into capability: Willingness and its place in

South Korea’s G20 calculation

IV. What they think matters: The invitation and acceptance

of South Korean Leadership

V. Conclusion
 South Korea’s middle power role has been limited with the
fashioning of the East Asian regional security.

 Korea’s hosting of the G20 Summit seemingly provides an

opportunity for a reevaluation of South Korean middle power
leadership.

 Modestly developed opportunity base

 Increased willingness to shoulder international political responsibilities
 Middle power leadership is not perceived as threat
 The aim of this paper is to explore the opportunity in a change of
direction in Korea’s middle power diplomacy as it tries to play the
timing of the G20 summit card for a new middle power role.

 It tries to explain internal and external variables such as capability,

diplomatic potential, and the perception it must deftly deploy to
make such foreign policy thrust viable and even an opportunity for
the country.
Middle Power Diplomacy

 Middle powers are beyond the dualistic categories of great

powers and small ones

 There are no clear perceived roles for the middle powers of

the world

 Exhibit modest capabilities

 Not dependent on great powers to support their states in the

international scene
The Case of South Korea

 South Korea is on the uneasy spot of not just being a middle

power, but as a potential victim of great power rivalry.

 With China on the West and Japan on the East, while the
United States and Russia are at the periphery, what hope is
there for South Korea to compete even with its sizeable
economic weight in global affairs?

 Searching for the “sweet spot” is necessary to ensure South

Korea’s survival.
 This paper therefore sets its sight on the discussion of the three
sites of Korean power that is contingent on and/or highlighted by
the G20 Summit namely:

(1) South Korea’s well rounded capability structure spanning on the economic and
military spheres

(2) In order for South Korea to find its sweet spot and transform itself as a middle
power by goals and not merely by capacity, it must be willing to take upon the
role and responsibility it might bring hence making it want it and willing

(3) G20 inherently and implicitly empowers South Korea as it accords both
responsibility and recognition with considerably less opposition from both
spectrum of power politics
THE INCOMPLETE BUT NECESSARY
DIMENSIONS OF CAPABILITY
 Internal Opportunities
 Military Strength
 Economics

 External Complements
 Relational and geopolitico-spatial aspects of a nation’s
relationship
 Creation of global economic partners

 Capability is not equivalent to action.

PUTTING WILL INTO CAPABILITY
 Capability as power is latent and must incorporate willingness

 History however prevents Korea from actively engaging; it is

however out of this very history that South Korea draws its
mandate.

 Furthermore, South Korea has an enduring interest in the

maintenance of trade and furtherance of development.

 It is out of such strategy that they are able to normatively race

against its neighbors

 Domestically, President Lee Myung-bak equated his legacy with

the successful conclusion and use of the G20 opportunity.
WHAT THEY THINK MATTERS

 Both small powers and great powers suffers a negative

feedback loop of distrustful or uninterested perception.

 South Korea could act as the “middleman” by virtue of its

middle power nature.

 Out of this, South Korea could manifest flexibility and mobility

as it brokers the “deal” between great powers and small
powers.

 In the end, the G20 itself is an invitation to greater

participation, even leadership, in global governance.
CONCLUSION

 The efficacy of South Korea’s middle power diplomacy is

dependent on three variables:

1) South Korea is considered to be a middle power by capacity

2) South Korea is becoming a middle power by behavior

1) A newly acknowledged middle power by reception and

perception

 At this critical juncture, South Korea must know the basis by

which it could take advantage over the G20 opportunity.