The Power Logic of Yoon Seok-youl Government's"Following the U.S."Policy——Based on Relationship Theory
Considering itself as a recipient of power historically,South Korea mistakenly believes that its weakness vis-à-vis neighboring powers is the greatest source of insecurity.After the Cold War,South Korea not only internalized its middle-power status,but also accumulated its rights and influence while safeguarding its own security with the help of the neighboring powers around the Korean Peninsula.South Korea's middle power status requires it to anticipate external pressures and adapt to them.The Yoon Seok-youl administration's decision to make"global pivotal state"and"global strategic alliance"as its overall and prior goal of foreign policy is the manifestation of South Korea's ability to anticipate external pressures and adapt to them as a middle-power country.From the perspective of relationship theory,a"favor"mechanism for power exchange has been established between South Korea and the U.S.,and the norms of"reward"for the"favor"mechanism require South Korea to meet the needs of the U.S.strategic competition with China.Through the power exchange mochanism,South Korea has not only increased its power resources at the individual,structural,and relational levels,but also gained a platform to exert its influence by joining the U.S.-led"mini-multilateral"system.
Yoon Seok-youl governmentFollowing the U.S.power logicrelationship theorymiddle powers
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