The phenomenon of "soft power" in the foreign policy of South Korea

Abstract

The presented work discusses the national strategies of "soft power" in the foreign policy of the Republic of Korea, analyzes the main approaches, resources, tools, goals and results of the use of "soft power" by this state at the current stage. In South Korea, the concept of "soft power" is of particular academic interest because Seoul has incorporated it into its foreign policy strategy and, in addition, has invested considerable resources in promoting it on the world stage. The promotion of national languages and the spread of culture and traditions abroad already act as an effective tool for the implementation of "soft power", with the help of which governments build a positive image of the country.

  In modern interstate relations, the category "power" has many variable meanings. For thousands of years, power has traditionally been identified with military power, which remains the main indicator of a state's prestige in the international arena. However, since the mid-1980s, the traditional (military) understanding of power in international relations theory has been changing, and a new concept of "soft power" has been introduced into the political and academic literature. This paper aims to cover these issues.