Navigation auf- und zuklappen
Eric J. Ballbach
Umweltsicherheit und Nordkorea
Begrenzter Raum für... more Navigation auf- und zuklappen Eric J. Ballbach Umweltsicherheit und Nordkorea Begrenzter Raum für Konflikttransformation durch Umweltkooperation
Forschungsgebiete Asien PDF | 201 KB EPUB | 639 KB MOBI | 933 KB Die Stabilität Nordkoreas zu wahren bildet eine ernste Herausforderung für die globale Sicherheit, besonders für die Sicherheit im indo-pazifischen Raum. Nicht nur strukturelle wirtschaftliche Probleme und das Risiko eines militärischen Konflikts gefährden diese Stabilität, sondern zunehmend auch nichttraditionelle Bedrohungen wie Umweltzerstörung und Klimawandel. Daher hat die nordkoreanische Führung ihre Aktivitäten zur Bekämpfung negativer Folgen dieser Entwicklungen verstärkt. Zwar bieten Umweltfragen als vergleichsweise entpolitisierter Bereich durchaus Möglichkeiten für ein konstruktives Engagement zwischen Nordkorea und der internationalen Gemeinschaft. Gleichwohl erschweren finanzielle, politische, strukturelle und institutionelle Probleme eine langfristige Kooperation. Deshalb erweist sich die Förderung des Umweltschutzes in Nordkorea zum Zwecke der Konflikttransformation als grundsätzliches Dilemma.
On 11 January 2023, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol stated that if the North Korean nuclear ... more On 11 January 2023, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol stated that if the North Korean nuclear threat grows, Seoul would consider building nuclear weapons of its own or ask the US to redeploy them to the Korean Peninsula. The statement is another contribution to the ongoing debate about South Korea’s nuclear armament — a debate spurred by North Korea’s ever-increasing military capabilities and the expansion of its nuclear doctrine, a growing threat perception of North Korea and China in South Korea (ROK), questions regarding the credibility of the alliance, shifting domestic opinions on nuclear weapons, and changing perceptions regarding South Korea’s global role and status.
Der G7-Gipfel in Japan: Internationaler Kontext, inhaltliche Ergebnisse und politische Perspektiven, SWP 360 Grad, 2023
Am G7-Gipfel im japanischen Hiroshima nahm auch Südkoreas Präsident Yoon Suk Yeol teil. Zum viert... more Am G7-Gipfel im japanischen Hiroshima nahm auch Südkoreas Präsident Yoon Suk Yeol teil. Zum vierten Mal war sein Land als Gast bei einem G7-Treffen vertreten. Japans Einladung ist angesichts der schwierigen bilateralen Beziehungen beider Staaten politisch wie symbolisch bedeutsam. Mit der wiederholten Einladung wird Südkorea als eine der vitalsten Demokratien in Asien ebenso gewürdigt wie als zehntgrößte Volkswirtschaft, mit einem Bruttoinlandsprodukt von 1,7 Billionen US-Dollar, vergleichbar jenem Kanadas. Gewürdigt werden insbesondere auch seine Bemühungen, das eigene außenpolitische Portfolio zu diversifizieren und zu einem aktiveren außenpolitischen Akteur zu werden. Nicht zuletzt ist Südkorea ein wichtiger Verbündeter der USA und ein strategischer Partner der EU, der ein unmittelbares Interesse daran hat, dass Sicherheit und Stabilität in seinem regionalen Umfeld aufrechterhalten werden.
Da sich der globale geopolitische und wirtschaftliche Schwerpunkt in den indopazifischen Raum verlagert hat, sind die G7-Staaten sehr daran interessiert, die Entwicklungen in der Region mitzugestalten. Die im Dezember 2022 veröffentlichte Indo-Pazifik-Strategie Südkoreas weist viele Überschneidungen gerade mit den Strategien der europäischen G7-Mitglieder auf und bietet zahlreiche Anknüpfungspunkte für vertiefte Kooperation. Da sich die G7-Staaten verstärkt darum bemühen, ihre Außenbeziehungen zu diversifizieren, und Südkorea eine wichtige Stellung in der Halbleiter-, Chip- und Batterieproduktion einnimmt, wird es für die G7 zweifelsohne weiter an strategischer Bedeutung gewinnen. Eine enge Kooperation mit Südkorea ist also ebenso hilfreich wie folgerichtig, wenn es darum geht, die zahlreichen Herausforderungen zu bewältigen, mit denen die G7-Staaten konfrontiert sind.
60 Years of EU-Korea Relations, 1963-2023: Looking Back, Looking Forward Edited by Kim Sihong, Lee Moosung, Nicola Casarini and Eric J. Ballbach, 2023
The EU-ROK Framework Agreement (FA),1 which was signed on May 10, 2010 and entered into force on ... more The EU-ROK Framework Agreement (FA),1 which was signed on May 10, 2010 and entered into force on June 1, 2014, is the central institutional agreement managing political relations between Brussels and Seoul. While political cooperation between Seoul and Brussels has long been treated as a less urgent issue than the economic relationship, the introduction of the FA, together with the Framework Participation Agreement and the upgrade of relations to a strategic partnership, has brought the political pillar of EU-South Korea relations to the fore. Against this background, this chapter analyzes the 2010 agreement and discusses how it has influenced the development of political relations between the EU and the ROK in different issue-areas. It is shown that the FA has significantly enhanced political cooperation between the EU and the ROK on a wide range of topics. Yet, although the agreement foresees several types of action, it remains vague regarding their actual implementation. Moreover, the actual level of cooperation in the different sectors varies significantly.
Sanctions against North Korea: From the UN Security Council to a Coalition of the Willing?, 2023
Since the breakdown in 2019 of high-level diplomacy with North Korea and as a result of the five-... more Since the breakdown in 2019 of high-level diplomacy with North Korea and as a result of the five-year military modernisation plan that the country announced in January 2021, it has steadily expanded its military capabilities. It has not only conducted an unprecedent number of missile tests and in the process introduced a range of new missile technologies, but recently also introduced a new law that makes significant changes to its nuclear doctrine. At the same time, the rapidly changing geopolitical context, most vividly exemplified by the intensifying US-China rivalry and Russia’s war against Ukraine, not only makes a resolution of the international community’s conflict with North Korea over its nuclear weapons and military capabilities even less likely, but strains the central mechanism used by the international community to deal with North Korea during the past years, i.e. the imposition of sanctions through the UN Security Council (UNSC). Despite the unprecedented quantitative and qualitative progress in North Korea’s military build-up, the UNSC has imposed no new sanctions on the country since 2017. This Policy Brief examines why and how the UNSC stopped being the central theatre for imposing sanctions on North Korea and highlights the security challenges that result from this shift. Next, it addresses the most crucial implications of these security challenges. The analysis includes a discussion of the central actors driving new decisions to impose sanctions on North Korea outside the framework of the UNSC, and how these sanctions target one of the country’s most crucial sanctions-evasion mechanisms: its cybercrime programme. Based on this analysis, the brief offers policy recommendations that underscore the value of recent coordination initiatives in the field of sanctions and discusses what more needs to be done.
Country-level Politics around the SDGs Analysing political will as a critical element of the Mid-Term Review of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, 2023
The Republic of Korea’s (ROK, South Korea) established commitment to sustainable development for... more The Republic of Korea’s (ROK, South Korea) established commitment to sustainable development forms an important foundation for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. This dates back to the country’s democratization in 1988 and especially the Rio Summit in 1992. Crucially, there is an overall consensus on the significance of implementing the SDGs, spanning ideological and party lines, despite differences in specific approaches and policy priorities.1 Alongside the required institutional infrastructure, Seoul has developed a series of policies, measures and initiatives to integrate the SDGs directly or indirectly into its domestic and foreign policies and international development cooperation strategies, using the SDGs to boost the country’s green credentials as the government aims to make the country a leading exporter in the area of green research and technology. Yet substantial deficits in implementation of the SDGs remain. The Republic of Korea is among the largest emitters of CO2, and the share of renewables in energy production remains low. Current policies are not sufficient to reach the legally mandated target of carbon neutrality by 2050. Moreover, structural and institutional deficits hamper progress in implementing the SDGs.
Deutschland und Südkorea verbinden nicht nur ähnliche historische Erfahrungen und enge wirtschaft... more Deutschland und Südkorea verbinden nicht nur ähnliche historische Erfahrungen und enge wirtschaftliche Beziehungen, sondern auch gemeinsame Werte und Interessen. Lange waren die bilateralen Beziehungen von einem Austausch über traditionelle Kooperationsthemen geprägt, etwa den Teilungs-und Wiedervereinigungserfahrungen sowie vor allem den wirtschaftlichen Verbindungen. Jüngst weiten sie sich auch auf den sicherheitspolitischen und strategischen Bereich aus. Um das Potential auszuschöpfen, bestehende Herausforderungen zu bewältigen und die bilateralen Beziehungen zukunftsfähig auszugestalten, sollten Berlin und Seoul diese weiter intensivieren und zu einer strategischen Partnerschaft aufwerten.
Chinas Beziehungen zu Nordkorea sind komplex. Geprägt von historischen, ideologischen und strateg... more Chinas Beziehungen zu Nordkorea sind komplex. Geprägt von historischen, ideologischen und strategischen Faktoren sind den bilateralen Beziehungen Grenzen gesetzt, die sich nicht zuletzt aus einer Priorisierung von Beijings Interessen im Hinblick auf Nordkorea ergeben.
While the world’s attention is focused on Russia’s war against Ukraine and the intensifying conf... more While the world’s attention is focused on Russia’s war against Ukraine and the intensifying conflict between the US and China, the security situation on the Korean Peninsula has continued to deteriorate. North Korea is steadily advancing the expansion of its military capabilities and recently undertook significant changes in its nuclear doctrine. At the same time, the rapidly changing geopolitical context makes a resolution of the North Korean nuclear conflict even less likely. North Korea’s unilateral change of the status quo on the Korean Peninsula poses a serious challenge to the international community, which has few options to counter this threat that is far too dangerous to ignore.
South Korea has been late to embrace the concept of the Indo-Pacific. Its strategic approach deve... more South Korea has been late to embrace the concept of the Indo-Pacific. Its strategic approach developed from initial neglect to mere tactic acknowledgment and careful engagement under the Moon administration (2017–2022), to the now clear support for a distinct Indo-Pacific strategy under the Yoon administration (since 2022).
While South Korea’s Indo-Pacific strategy represents an important step in formulating its own interests in the region, its implementation will be influenced by the larger strategic environment, the dynamic relationships between a network of different actors in the region, and the coordination of its approach with like-minded partners.
Despite the Yoon administration’s closer alignment of its Indo-Pacific strategy with that of the US, there are ample opportunities to strengthen cooperation between the EU and the Republic of Korea (ROK or South Korea) on the Indo-Pacific. This is a consequence of overlapping interests regarding the Indo-Pacific region, which are expressed through strong similarities in the respective strategy papers of South Korea and the EU.
Building on a solid existing basis of bilateral cooperation enabled by their strategic partnership, cooperation between the EU and the ROK should now be deepened beyond their already well-developed bilateral frameworks within the economic realm to the wider field of security cooperation.
As South Korea’s and the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategies highlight similar areas of action, economic security, maritime security and cyber security are the most likely issue-areas in which the two sides will expand their links.
Finding a diplomatic solution to the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula is among the most pre... more Finding a diplomatic solution to the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula is among the most pressing challenges that the international community currently faces. Given that any diplomatic solution to the crises necessitates direct dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea), this study analyzes past dialogue initiatives of the international community with that country — thereby aiming to scrutinize the multiple challenges associated with such endeavors. Among the lessons that can be learned from the failure of past diplomatic initiatives to solve the nuclear crisis is the acknowledgment of the fact that such non-military solutions will constitute a long-term and gradual process, whose continued maintenance requires a tremendous amount of sustained political will. Moreover, North Korea's transition to a de facto nuclear power has dramatically changed the baseline for dialogue with it.
The main objective of the paper is to approach the politics of mourning in North Korea following ... more The main objective of the paper is to approach the politics of mourning in North Korea following the experiencing of the loss of the country's two leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Building on theoretical considerations regarding the concepts of "pastoral power" as well as the "theater state," the study analyzes some of the performances, symbols, and rituals connected to the loss of the founder of the state and nation Kim Il Sung and of his successor Kim Jong Il. By so doing, the paper provides a fresh perspective for thinking about national loss — and the ways of remembering linked to it — both as inherently political and at the same time as constitutive of social relations. In order to approach the politics of mourning in North Korea, a deeper understanding of the relationship between the individual and the leader(s), as well as of the subsequent process of subjectivation, is required. As such, the study draws on the concept of "the sociopolitical o...
The main goal of this paper is to broaden our perception of North Korea's nuclear weapons pro... more The main goal of this paper is to broaden our perception of North Korea's nuclear weapons program beyond military, economic, and political-diplomatic aspects and to propose a view of the program as a dynamic identity project of and for the North Korean state. Drawing on a poststructuralist approach that theorizes the state as performatively constituted and foreign policy as a political performance central to the production of identity, this paper analyzes North Korea's evolving nuclear state identity on two levels. Firstly, it scrutinizes the discursive construction of this particular identity trait, identifying both the process of exploration as well as the central contextual characteristics of this particular identity trait. Building on these deliberations, the study, secondly, analyzes the performative enactment of this identity construction by scrutinizing some of those iterated foreign policy performances that bring the constructed nuclear state identity into being. As ...
This paper analyzes North Korea's most central foreign policy discourse in the post-Cold War ... more This paper analyzes North Korea's most central foreign policy discourse in the post-Cold War era: the discourse of the Diplomatic War. Embedding North Korea's nuclear strive and its conflictual relations with a significant Other-the U.S.-the analysis of this discourse provides crucial insights into the immaterial factors driving North Korea's foreign relations in the post-Cold War era. In specific, the study focusses on two central characteristics of the discourse, i.e. the writing of identity and the construction of dangers and fear. Applying a poststructuralist, discourse analytical approach the study investigates the constitutive and performative relation between identity and threat constructions and North Korean foreign policy in the context of the nuclear issue, focusing on the question how identity rhetoric and attributions are used to legitimize its nuclear endeavors. RESUMEN Este trabajo analiza el núcelo central del discurso de política exterior de Corea del Nor...
Navigation auf- und zuklappen
Eric J. Ballbach
Umweltsicherheit und Nordkorea
Begrenzter Raum für... more Navigation auf- und zuklappen Eric J. Ballbach Umweltsicherheit und Nordkorea Begrenzter Raum für Konflikttransformation durch Umweltkooperation
Forschungsgebiete Asien PDF | 201 KB EPUB | 639 KB MOBI | 933 KB Die Stabilität Nordkoreas zu wahren bildet eine ernste Herausforderung für die globale Sicherheit, besonders für die Sicherheit im indo-pazifischen Raum. Nicht nur strukturelle wirtschaftliche Probleme und das Risiko eines militärischen Konflikts gefährden diese Stabilität, sondern zunehmend auch nichttraditionelle Bedrohungen wie Umweltzerstörung und Klimawandel. Daher hat die nordkoreanische Führung ihre Aktivitäten zur Bekämpfung negativer Folgen dieser Entwicklungen verstärkt. Zwar bieten Umweltfragen als vergleichsweise entpolitisierter Bereich durchaus Möglichkeiten für ein konstruktives Engagement zwischen Nordkorea und der internationalen Gemeinschaft. Gleichwohl erschweren finanzielle, politische, strukturelle und institutionelle Probleme eine langfristige Kooperation. Deshalb erweist sich die Förderung des Umweltschutzes in Nordkorea zum Zwecke der Konflikttransformation als grundsätzliches Dilemma.
On 11 January 2023, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol stated that if the North Korean nuclear ... more On 11 January 2023, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol stated that if the North Korean nuclear threat grows, Seoul would consider building nuclear weapons of its own or ask the US to redeploy them to the Korean Peninsula. The statement is another contribution to the ongoing debate about South Korea’s nuclear armament — a debate spurred by North Korea’s ever-increasing military capabilities and the expansion of its nuclear doctrine, a growing threat perception of North Korea and China in South Korea (ROK), questions regarding the credibility of the alliance, shifting domestic opinions on nuclear weapons, and changing perceptions regarding South Korea’s global role and status.
Der G7-Gipfel in Japan: Internationaler Kontext, inhaltliche Ergebnisse und politische Perspektiven, SWP 360 Grad, 2023
Am G7-Gipfel im japanischen Hiroshima nahm auch Südkoreas Präsident Yoon Suk Yeol teil. Zum viert... more Am G7-Gipfel im japanischen Hiroshima nahm auch Südkoreas Präsident Yoon Suk Yeol teil. Zum vierten Mal war sein Land als Gast bei einem G7-Treffen vertreten. Japans Einladung ist angesichts der schwierigen bilateralen Beziehungen beider Staaten politisch wie symbolisch bedeutsam. Mit der wiederholten Einladung wird Südkorea als eine der vitalsten Demokratien in Asien ebenso gewürdigt wie als zehntgrößte Volkswirtschaft, mit einem Bruttoinlandsprodukt von 1,7 Billionen US-Dollar, vergleichbar jenem Kanadas. Gewürdigt werden insbesondere auch seine Bemühungen, das eigene außenpolitische Portfolio zu diversifizieren und zu einem aktiveren außenpolitischen Akteur zu werden. Nicht zuletzt ist Südkorea ein wichtiger Verbündeter der USA und ein strategischer Partner der EU, der ein unmittelbares Interesse daran hat, dass Sicherheit und Stabilität in seinem regionalen Umfeld aufrechterhalten werden.
Da sich der globale geopolitische und wirtschaftliche Schwerpunkt in den indopazifischen Raum verlagert hat, sind die G7-Staaten sehr daran interessiert, die Entwicklungen in der Region mitzugestalten. Die im Dezember 2022 veröffentlichte Indo-Pazifik-Strategie Südkoreas weist viele Überschneidungen gerade mit den Strategien der europäischen G7-Mitglieder auf und bietet zahlreiche Anknüpfungspunkte für vertiefte Kooperation. Da sich die G7-Staaten verstärkt darum bemühen, ihre Außenbeziehungen zu diversifizieren, und Südkorea eine wichtige Stellung in der Halbleiter-, Chip- und Batterieproduktion einnimmt, wird es für die G7 zweifelsohne weiter an strategischer Bedeutung gewinnen. Eine enge Kooperation mit Südkorea ist also ebenso hilfreich wie folgerichtig, wenn es darum geht, die zahlreichen Herausforderungen zu bewältigen, mit denen die G7-Staaten konfrontiert sind.
60 Years of EU-Korea Relations, 1963-2023: Looking Back, Looking Forward Edited by Kim Sihong, Lee Moosung, Nicola Casarini and Eric J. Ballbach, 2023
The EU-ROK Framework Agreement (FA),1 which was signed on May 10, 2010 and entered into force on ... more The EU-ROK Framework Agreement (FA),1 which was signed on May 10, 2010 and entered into force on June 1, 2014, is the central institutional agreement managing political relations between Brussels and Seoul. While political cooperation between Seoul and Brussels has long been treated as a less urgent issue than the economic relationship, the introduction of the FA, together with the Framework Participation Agreement and the upgrade of relations to a strategic partnership, has brought the political pillar of EU-South Korea relations to the fore. Against this background, this chapter analyzes the 2010 agreement and discusses how it has influenced the development of political relations between the EU and the ROK in different issue-areas. It is shown that the FA has significantly enhanced political cooperation between the EU and the ROK on a wide range of topics. Yet, although the agreement foresees several types of action, it remains vague regarding their actual implementation. Moreover, the actual level of cooperation in the different sectors varies significantly.
Sanctions against North Korea: From the UN Security Council to a Coalition of the Willing?, 2023
Since the breakdown in 2019 of high-level diplomacy with North Korea and as a result of the five-... more Since the breakdown in 2019 of high-level diplomacy with North Korea and as a result of the five-year military modernisation plan that the country announced in January 2021, it has steadily expanded its military capabilities. It has not only conducted an unprecedent number of missile tests and in the process introduced a range of new missile technologies, but recently also introduced a new law that makes significant changes to its nuclear doctrine. At the same time, the rapidly changing geopolitical context, most vividly exemplified by the intensifying US-China rivalry and Russia’s war against Ukraine, not only makes a resolution of the international community’s conflict with North Korea over its nuclear weapons and military capabilities even less likely, but strains the central mechanism used by the international community to deal with North Korea during the past years, i.e. the imposition of sanctions through the UN Security Council (UNSC). Despite the unprecedented quantitative and qualitative progress in North Korea’s military build-up, the UNSC has imposed no new sanctions on the country since 2017. This Policy Brief examines why and how the UNSC stopped being the central theatre for imposing sanctions on North Korea and highlights the security challenges that result from this shift. Next, it addresses the most crucial implications of these security challenges. The analysis includes a discussion of the central actors driving new decisions to impose sanctions on North Korea outside the framework of the UNSC, and how these sanctions target one of the country’s most crucial sanctions-evasion mechanisms: its cybercrime programme. Based on this analysis, the brief offers policy recommendations that underscore the value of recent coordination initiatives in the field of sanctions and discusses what more needs to be done.
Country-level Politics around the SDGs Analysing political will as a critical element of the Mid-Term Review of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, 2023
The Republic of Korea’s (ROK, South Korea) established commitment to sustainable development for... more The Republic of Korea’s (ROK, South Korea) established commitment to sustainable development forms an important foundation for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. This dates back to the country’s democratization in 1988 and especially the Rio Summit in 1992. Crucially, there is an overall consensus on the significance of implementing the SDGs, spanning ideological and party lines, despite differences in specific approaches and policy priorities.1 Alongside the required institutional infrastructure, Seoul has developed a series of policies, measures and initiatives to integrate the SDGs directly or indirectly into its domestic and foreign policies and international development cooperation strategies, using the SDGs to boost the country’s green credentials as the government aims to make the country a leading exporter in the area of green research and technology. Yet substantial deficits in implementation of the SDGs remain. The Republic of Korea is among the largest emitters of CO2, and the share of renewables in energy production remains low. Current policies are not sufficient to reach the legally mandated target of carbon neutrality by 2050. Moreover, structural and institutional deficits hamper progress in implementing the SDGs.
Deutschland und Südkorea verbinden nicht nur ähnliche historische Erfahrungen und enge wirtschaft... more Deutschland und Südkorea verbinden nicht nur ähnliche historische Erfahrungen und enge wirtschaftliche Beziehungen, sondern auch gemeinsame Werte und Interessen. Lange waren die bilateralen Beziehungen von einem Austausch über traditionelle Kooperationsthemen geprägt, etwa den Teilungs-und Wiedervereinigungserfahrungen sowie vor allem den wirtschaftlichen Verbindungen. Jüngst weiten sie sich auch auf den sicherheitspolitischen und strategischen Bereich aus. Um das Potential auszuschöpfen, bestehende Herausforderungen zu bewältigen und die bilateralen Beziehungen zukunftsfähig auszugestalten, sollten Berlin und Seoul diese weiter intensivieren und zu einer strategischen Partnerschaft aufwerten.
Chinas Beziehungen zu Nordkorea sind komplex. Geprägt von historischen, ideologischen und strateg... more Chinas Beziehungen zu Nordkorea sind komplex. Geprägt von historischen, ideologischen und strategischen Faktoren sind den bilateralen Beziehungen Grenzen gesetzt, die sich nicht zuletzt aus einer Priorisierung von Beijings Interessen im Hinblick auf Nordkorea ergeben.
While the world’s attention is focused on Russia’s war against Ukraine and the intensifying conf... more While the world’s attention is focused on Russia’s war against Ukraine and the intensifying conflict between the US and China, the security situation on the Korean Peninsula has continued to deteriorate. North Korea is steadily advancing the expansion of its military capabilities and recently undertook significant changes in its nuclear doctrine. At the same time, the rapidly changing geopolitical context makes a resolution of the North Korean nuclear conflict even less likely. North Korea’s unilateral change of the status quo on the Korean Peninsula poses a serious challenge to the international community, which has few options to counter this threat that is far too dangerous to ignore.
South Korea has been late to embrace the concept of the Indo-Pacific. Its strategic approach deve... more South Korea has been late to embrace the concept of the Indo-Pacific. Its strategic approach developed from initial neglect to mere tactic acknowledgment and careful engagement under the Moon administration (2017–2022), to the now clear support for a distinct Indo-Pacific strategy under the Yoon administration (since 2022).
While South Korea’s Indo-Pacific strategy represents an important step in formulating its own interests in the region, its implementation will be influenced by the larger strategic environment, the dynamic relationships between a network of different actors in the region, and the coordination of its approach with like-minded partners.
Despite the Yoon administration’s closer alignment of its Indo-Pacific strategy with that of the US, there are ample opportunities to strengthen cooperation between the EU and the Republic of Korea (ROK or South Korea) on the Indo-Pacific. This is a consequence of overlapping interests regarding the Indo-Pacific region, which are expressed through strong similarities in the respective strategy papers of South Korea and the EU.
Building on a solid existing basis of bilateral cooperation enabled by their strategic partnership, cooperation between the EU and the ROK should now be deepened beyond their already well-developed bilateral frameworks within the economic realm to the wider field of security cooperation.
As South Korea’s and the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategies highlight similar areas of action, economic security, maritime security and cyber security are the most likely issue-areas in which the two sides will expand their links.
Finding a diplomatic solution to the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula is among the most pre... more Finding a diplomatic solution to the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula is among the most pressing challenges that the international community currently faces. Given that any diplomatic solution to the crises necessitates direct dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea), this study analyzes past dialogue initiatives of the international community with that country — thereby aiming to scrutinize the multiple challenges associated with such endeavors. Among the lessons that can be learned from the failure of past diplomatic initiatives to solve the nuclear crisis is the acknowledgment of the fact that such non-military solutions will constitute a long-term and gradual process, whose continued maintenance requires a tremendous amount of sustained political will. Moreover, North Korea's transition to a de facto nuclear power has dramatically changed the baseline for dialogue with it.
The main objective of the paper is to approach the politics of mourning in North Korea following ... more The main objective of the paper is to approach the politics of mourning in North Korea following the experiencing of the loss of the country's two leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Building on theoretical considerations regarding the concepts of "pastoral power" as well as the "theater state," the study analyzes some of the performances, symbols, and rituals connected to the loss of the founder of the state and nation Kim Il Sung and of his successor Kim Jong Il. By so doing, the paper provides a fresh perspective for thinking about national loss — and the ways of remembering linked to it — both as inherently political and at the same time as constitutive of social relations. In order to approach the politics of mourning in North Korea, a deeper understanding of the relationship between the individual and the leader(s), as well as of the subsequent process of subjectivation, is required. As such, the study draws on the concept of "the sociopolitical o...
The main goal of this paper is to broaden our perception of North Korea's nuclear weapons pro... more The main goal of this paper is to broaden our perception of North Korea's nuclear weapons program beyond military, economic, and political-diplomatic aspects and to propose a view of the program as a dynamic identity project of and for the North Korean state. Drawing on a poststructuralist approach that theorizes the state as performatively constituted and foreign policy as a political performance central to the production of identity, this paper analyzes North Korea's evolving nuclear state identity on two levels. Firstly, it scrutinizes the discursive construction of this particular identity trait, identifying both the process of exploration as well as the central contextual characteristics of this particular identity trait. Building on these deliberations, the study, secondly, analyzes the performative enactment of this identity construction by scrutinizing some of those iterated foreign policy performances that bring the constructed nuclear state identity into being. As ...
This paper analyzes North Korea's most central foreign policy discourse in the post-Cold War ... more This paper analyzes North Korea's most central foreign policy discourse in the post-Cold War era: the discourse of the Diplomatic War. Embedding North Korea's nuclear strive and its conflictual relations with a significant Other-the U.S.-the analysis of this discourse provides crucial insights into the immaterial factors driving North Korea's foreign relations in the post-Cold War era. In specific, the study focusses on two central characteristics of the discourse, i.e. the writing of identity and the construction of dangers and fear. Applying a poststructuralist, discourse analytical approach the study investigates the constitutive and performative relation between identity and threat constructions and North Korean foreign policy in the context of the nuclear issue, focusing on the question how identity rhetoric and attributions are used to legitimize its nuclear endeavors. RESUMEN Este trabajo analiza el núcelo central del discurso de política exterior de Corea del Nor...
60 Years of EU-Korea Relations, 1963-2023: Looking Back, Looking Forward, 2023
The EU-ROK Framework Agreement (FA), which was signed on May 10, 2010 and entered into force on J... more The EU-ROK Framework Agreement (FA), which was signed on May 10, 2010 and entered into force on June 1, 2014, is the central institutional agreement managing political relations between Brussels and Seoul. While political cooperation between the two sides has long been treated as a less urgent issue than the economic relationship, the introduction of the FA, together with the Framework participation Agreement and the upgrade of relations to a strategic partnership, has broughtthe political pillar of EU-South Korea relations to the fore. Against this background, this chapter analyzes the 2010 agreement and dicusses how it has influenced the development of political relations between the EU and the ROK in different issue-areas. It is shown that the FA has significantly enhanced political cooperation between the EU and the ROK on a wide range of topics. Yet, although the agreement foresees several types of action, it remains vague regarding their implementation. Moreover, the actual level of cooperation in the different sectors varies significantly.
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Papers by Eric Ballbach
Eric J. Ballbach
Umweltsicherheit und Nordkorea
Begrenzter Raum für Konflikttransformation durch Umweltkooperation
SWP-Aktuell 2024/A 04, 30.01.2024, 8 Seiten
doi:10.18449/2024A04
Forschungsgebiete
Asien
PDF | 201 KB
EPUB | 639 KB
MOBI | 933 KB
Die Stabilität Nordkoreas zu wahren bildet eine ernste Herausforderung für die globale Sicherheit, besonders für die Sicherheit im indo-pazifischen Raum. Nicht nur strukturelle wirtschaftliche Probleme und das Risiko eines militärischen Konflikts gefährden diese Stabilität, sondern zunehmend auch nichttraditionelle Bedrohungen wie Umweltzerstörung und Klimawandel. Daher hat die nordkoreanische Führung ihre Aktivitäten zur Bekämpfung negativer Folgen dieser Entwicklungen verstärkt. Zwar bieten Umweltfragen als vergleichsweise entpolitisierter Bereich durchaus Möglichkeiten für ein konstruktives Engagement zwischen Nordkorea und der internationalen Gemeinschaft. Gleichwohl erschweren finanzielle, politische, strukturelle und institutionelle Probleme eine langfristige Kooperation. Deshalb erweist sich die Förderung des Umweltschutzes in Nordkorea zum Zwecke der Konflikttransformation als grundsätzliches Dilemma.
Da sich der globale geopolitische und wirtschaftliche Schwerpunkt in den indopazifischen Raum verlagert hat, sind die G7-Staaten sehr daran interessiert, die Entwicklungen in der Region mitzugestalten. Die im Dezember 2022 veröffentlichte Indo-Pazifik-Strategie Südkoreas weist viele Überschneidungen gerade mit den Strategien der europäischen G7-Mitglieder auf und bietet zahlreiche Anknüpfungspunkte für vertiefte Kooperation. Da sich die G7-Staaten verstärkt darum bemühen, ihre Außenbeziehungen zu diversifizieren, und Südkorea eine wichtige Stellung in der Halbleiter-, Chip- und Batterieproduktion einnimmt, wird es für die G7 zweifelsohne weiter an strategischer Bedeutung gewinnen. Eine enge Kooperation mit Südkorea ist also ebenso hilfreich wie folgerichtig, wenn es darum geht, die zahlreichen Herausforderungen zu bewältigen, mit denen die G7-Staaten konfrontiert sind.
At the same time, the rapidly changing geopolitical context, most vividly
exemplified by the intensifying US-China rivalry and Russia’s war against Ukraine, not only makes a resolution of the international community’s conflict with North Korea over its nuclear weapons and military capabilities even less likely, but strains the central mechanism used by the international community to deal with North Korea during the past years, i.e. the imposition of sanctions through the UN Security Council (UNSC). Despite the unprecedented quantitative and qualitative progress in North Korea’s military build-up, the UNSC has imposed no new sanctions on the country since 2017.
This Policy Brief examines why and how the UNSC stopped being the central theatre for imposing sanctions on North Korea and highlights the security challenges that result from this shift. Next, it addresses the most crucial implications of these security challenges. The analysis includes a discussion of the central actors driving new decisions to impose sanctions on North Korea outside the framework of the UNSC, and how these sanctions target one of the country’s most crucial sanctions-evasion mechanisms: its cybercrime programme. Based on this analysis, the brief offers policy recommendations that underscore the value of recent coordination initiatives in the field of sanctions and discusses what more needs to be done.
While South Korea’s Indo-Pacific strategy represents an important step in formulating its own interests in the region, its implementation will be influenced by the larger strategic environment, the dynamic relationships between a network of different actors in the region, and the coordination of its approach with like-minded partners.
Despite the Yoon administration’s closer alignment of its Indo-Pacific strategy with that of the US, there are ample opportunities to strengthen cooperation between the EU and the Republic of Korea (ROK or South Korea) on the Indo-Pacific. This is a consequence of overlapping interests regarding the Indo-Pacific region, which are expressed through strong similarities in the respective strategy papers of South Korea and the EU.
Building on a solid existing basis of bilateral cooperation enabled by their strategic partnership, cooperation between the EU and the ROK should now be deepened beyond their already well-developed bilateral frameworks within the economic realm to the wider field of security cooperation.
As South Korea’s and the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategies highlight similar areas of action, economic security, maritime security and cyber security are the most likely issue-areas in which the two sides will expand their links.
Eric J. Ballbach
Umweltsicherheit und Nordkorea
Begrenzter Raum für Konflikttransformation durch Umweltkooperation
SWP-Aktuell 2024/A 04, 30.01.2024, 8 Seiten
doi:10.18449/2024A04
Forschungsgebiete
Asien
PDF | 201 KB
EPUB | 639 KB
MOBI | 933 KB
Die Stabilität Nordkoreas zu wahren bildet eine ernste Herausforderung für die globale Sicherheit, besonders für die Sicherheit im indo-pazifischen Raum. Nicht nur strukturelle wirtschaftliche Probleme und das Risiko eines militärischen Konflikts gefährden diese Stabilität, sondern zunehmend auch nichttraditionelle Bedrohungen wie Umweltzerstörung und Klimawandel. Daher hat die nordkoreanische Führung ihre Aktivitäten zur Bekämpfung negativer Folgen dieser Entwicklungen verstärkt. Zwar bieten Umweltfragen als vergleichsweise entpolitisierter Bereich durchaus Möglichkeiten für ein konstruktives Engagement zwischen Nordkorea und der internationalen Gemeinschaft. Gleichwohl erschweren finanzielle, politische, strukturelle und institutionelle Probleme eine langfristige Kooperation. Deshalb erweist sich die Förderung des Umweltschutzes in Nordkorea zum Zwecke der Konflikttransformation als grundsätzliches Dilemma.
Da sich der globale geopolitische und wirtschaftliche Schwerpunkt in den indopazifischen Raum verlagert hat, sind die G7-Staaten sehr daran interessiert, die Entwicklungen in der Region mitzugestalten. Die im Dezember 2022 veröffentlichte Indo-Pazifik-Strategie Südkoreas weist viele Überschneidungen gerade mit den Strategien der europäischen G7-Mitglieder auf und bietet zahlreiche Anknüpfungspunkte für vertiefte Kooperation. Da sich die G7-Staaten verstärkt darum bemühen, ihre Außenbeziehungen zu diversifizieren, und Südkorea eine wichtige Stellung in der Halbleiter-, Chip- und Batterieproduktion einnimmt, wird es für die G7 zweifelsohne weiter an strategischer Bedeutung gewinnen. Eine enge Kooperation mit Südkorea ist also ebenso hilfreich wie folgerichtig, wenn es darum geht, die zahlreichen Herausforderungen zu bewältigen, mit denen die G7-Staaten konfrontiert sind.
At the same time, the rapidly changing geopolitical context, most vividly
exemplified by the intensifying US-China rivalry and Russia’s war against Ukraine, not only makes a resolution of the international community’s conflict with North Korea over its nuclear weapons and military capabilities even less likely, but strains the central mechanism used by the international community to deal with North Korea during the past years, i.e. the imposition of sanctions through the UN Security Council (UNSC). Despite the unprecedented quantitative and qualitative progress in North Korea’s military build-up, the UNSC has imposed no new sanctions on the country since 2017.
This Policy Brief examines why and how the UNSC stopped being the central theatre for imposing sanctions on North Korea and highlights the security challenges that result from this shift. Next, it addresses the most crucial implications of these security challenges. The analysis includes a discussion of the central actors driving new decisions to impose sanctions on North Korea outside the framework of the UNSC, and how these sanctions target one of the country’s most crucial sanctions-evasion mechanisms: its cybercrime programme. Based on this analysis, the brief offers policy recommendations that underscore the value of recent coordination initiatives in the field of sanctions and discusses what more needs to be done.
While South Korea’s Indo-Pacific strategy represents an important step in formulating its own interests in the region, its implementation will be influenced by the larger strategic environment, the dynamic relationships between a network of different actors in the region, and the coordination of its approach with like-minded partners.
Despite the Yoon administration’s closer alignment of its Indo-Pacific strategy with that of the US, there are ample opportunities to strengthen cooperation between the EU and the Republic of Korea (ROK or South Korea) on the Indo-Pacific. This is a consequence of overlapping interests regarding the Indo-Pacific region, which are expressed through strong similarities in the respective strategy papers of South Korea and the EU.
Building on a solid existing basis of bilateral cooperation enabled by their strategic partnership, cooperation between the EU and the ROK should now be deepened beyond their already well-developed bilateral frameworks within the economic realm to the wider field of security cooperation.
As South Korea’s and the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategies highlight similar areas of action, economic security, maritime security and cyber security are the most likely issue-areas in which the two sides will expand their links.