KOR,Korean politics and international relations (Korean Studies Content Course 3)

This course introduces students to the politics of Korea and its multi-dimensional effects on contemporary international relations. The course is divided into two parts; the first addresses the Korean war, state institutions, economic development, civil societies, democratization and political cultures. The second half of this course delves into the multi-level and cross-border interactions between the two Koreas and the four major powers, China, Japan, United States and Russia, as well as India and the ASEAN.

Special attention is also given to other important subjects shaping discourse surrounding Korean politics and the international system, namely new world order, globalization, populism and polarization, to facilitate comparative and global approaches to the study of Korean politics. At the end of this course, students will be able to contextualise the Korean peninsula’s socio-economic and political transformations within regional contexts, using China, Japan and Taiwan as case studies.

In addition, students will critically evaluate North and South Korea’s place and their distinct role in the international system, increasingly dominated by the two superpowers, China and the United States.