The Challenges of Foreign Policy and Suggestions for Future Responses

Abstract

As Korea has to face tough foreign policy challenges at the dawn of the 21st century, this article intends to identify roughly four areas of challenge to be seriously addressed by the Korean: domestic demands from democratized Korea, Korea’s security posture in transition, the North Korean conundrum, and the need to invest more in public and middle power diplomacy. After articulating these challenges, this article also attempts to provide adequate recommendations for strategic responses in the future. These challenges and responses should be reviewed in the newly created conditions under which 21st century Korean diplomacy operates: the domestic political change since democratization in 1987 and the intensifying US-China rivalry in Northeast Asia.