The foreign policy orientation of the Democratic Party of Korea (DP)—South Korea’s progressive party—is undergoing a recalibration to a more pragmatic, security-conscious orientation. No longer anchored primarily in ethnic nationalism or idealistic engagement frameworks: today’s progressives are adapting to a strategic landscape defined by intensified U.S.-China competition, North Korea’s nuclear maturity, China’s economic coercion, and Japan’s security normalization. Internally, generational shifts toward civic nationalism, growing concerns over economic inequality, and the rise of digital polarization are reshaping the domestic foundations of foreign policy preferences. This transformation has significant implications for alliance management, regional strategy, and trilateral cooperation with the United States and Japan.
The Transformation of South Korean Progressive Foreign Policy (Darcie Draudt-Véjares – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)
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