-Riya Karan

My history teacher used to say and I quote, to understand the present, one must read and take oneself through the pages of history. Well, he was right, not just to understand why two people on the street are in a fight but also to understand why two countries on the border are at war. 

The instability and insecurity plaguing the government of South Korea is a result of their past – their history. Colonised by two countries, surrounded by nuclear powers, their neighbours at constant war and not to forget the step brother who is ready to nuke. As Indians, we can understand the struggle of having a troubled sibling and annoying neighbours. 

That’s not where the hardships of the Republic of Korea ends, it too has greater roots in their internal instability. The haunting past doesn’t live only in the shadow of the discomforting neighbors but also is deep rooted in the unsettling political regimes South Korean people had to go through.  

Democracy for South Korea is like hard earned bread for which they toiled with their sweat and blood over the years. ROK, since independence, has had thirteen Presidents of which eight have a terrible story to narrate. 

The country faced martial law, numerous corruption scandals, assassinated Presidents, military coup, massacres, revolutions, democratic uprisings, impeachments and arrested Presidents. One of their President Roo Moo Hyun was impeached and later even committed suicide. 

With such political instability ROK seems to allow their past to repeat itself. The Korean peninsula, always couldn’t sustain on its own and always needed a roof to protect itself. Always in need of a friend to assist them. 

In the present times it might not be a colony of any country but is under the influence of the US over its decision making.  

The presence of the US on Korean soil has been since the end of the Second World War. For the US, South Korea was a strategically important country to invest in. What sounds like a disadvantage for the South was a gold mine for the US.

Surrounded by water in all directions and by much more powerful nations, the Korean regime always felt threatened, however times are not the same anymore. The geographical location proved to be a strategic win for the US. To gain control and keep a check on the East Asian nations while not losing their grip over the Pacific, ROK sounded a sane choice.

After the independence and the Korean war, America helped the South to rebuild itself from scratch and Miracle on the Han River is one such example of the resilient nature of South Koreans. 

What led to such a rise of South Korea was the investment of the state in Chaebols, wealthy family groups. Samsung, LG, Hyundai are a few notable names. 

One shall now ask, since the situation of South Korea is not rotten anymore but instead sound and safe, so what are American troops doing on their soil? What is their interest? Why do they have bases in Southern Korea?

Remember the story of a troubled sibling, North Korea? Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is not only the most isolated but also a mysterious country. For now, all we know is that they have developed a nuclear missile and are armed for nuclear wars. A threat that scares the world, including Uncle Sam. 

ROK naturally is the most vulnerable state in this scenario and wishes to develop its own nuclear weapons, however, Uncle Sam doesn’t like this idea and is exactly why ROK and US have signed a mutual defense treaty to ensure US defence for South Korea against any external aggression, mandating the presence of 26,000 US military personnel. 

America is profited by the presence of their personnel and bases – they ensure cooperation to counter DPRK, denuclearization of the region, easily keeps a check on the activities of China, can assist Taiwan immediately, have a firm hold over the East Asian region and a clutch over the Pacific. 

When the Korean island was divided, the factor of divide was ideology. Communism V/s Capitalism. The Soviet extended their hand of help to DPRK while we saw the aid from US to fly over ROK, this caused a feeling of menace in China which led to the support offered by PRC to DPRK in the Korean war. 

The bitterness in the relationship of China and South Korea is the result of the very support they extended in 1953 to the North. Sooner with time PRC realizes that North is not the friend they were looking for in the peninsula. 

With their own set of challenges, the North offers to China what Bangladesh offers to India, a refugee crisis and not to quote the irritations caused by the North for being a nuclear country. To balance the regional politics of East Asia, the bitterness between the South and PRC has to fade away in the thin layer. For this, they introduced policies like, Friendly cooperative relationship, collaborative partnership for 21st CE  and many more. 

This to some extent eased the relations and now the trade between the two nations flourishes. The trade has grown to a level where China is the biggest importer of South Korea followed by the US, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Japan.

China relies on the South for regional stability, trade, global economy, tourism and shares the concerns of North Korea with each other. 

Has anyone wondered, despite being an ally to both the rivals i.e. China and the US how South Korea sustains itself? Let’s reverse a little and discuss what is needed to be a stable country? 

Three things- 

1. Political stability.

2. Robust military.

3. And a strong economy. 

We have seen above in the article how politically unstable South Korea has been and the military wasn’t and isn’t allowed to develop to such a larger level so, what is left? Economy. What sustained South Korea was rapid economic growth, cultural influence and balanced diplomacy. 

Chaebols, the family businesses, run by one single family are the backbone of the South Korean economy. ROK used the export oriented industrialization which led them to build ships, semiconductors, automobiles and consumer electronics. 4% of their GDP is invested in research and development, they for sure know what is the future, hence, they end up investing in the 6G, AI, biotech etc. 

They understand the importance of skilled labor and the state encourages the same in the people. With a thriving human force at work they keep their human resource busy. Chaebols however are very powerful and this also creates an unequal divide among their own citizens so the state is trying to balance it out by funding and investing in Start-ups. 

The powerful economy is unshakable and the greatest virtue for South Korea so much so that even China and the US could not shake it off. 

In 2017, South Korea deployed the THAAD missile system on which China registered a strong protest followed by boycott and bans. This didn’t last for long due to the economic dependency China has on South Korea and vice versa. For that time ROK adopted the policy of three NOs. 

1. No more deployment of the THAAD missile system.

2. No South Korean integration into a U.S.-led regional missile defense system.

3. No trilateral alliance with the U.S. and Japan. 

The approach of the Republic of Korea is balanced diplomacy, they do not engage in direct counterism neither take sides and try to follow a middle path which mostly results in their favour. 

The current President of the US, Trump, in his last term asked South Korea to pay for the military US have been providing or else they will draw it out of their soil which intensified the talk over nuclear armaments which ended the thought of withdrawal. 

Strong grip over the economy, export market, cutting edge technology, huge investment in research and development and a balanced diplomacy is keeping South Korea together and shall continue to do so.