Theories of Power: Korea and Japan

Theories of Power: Korea and Japan

The relationship between Korea and Japan is rapidly deteriorating which could impact both countries' economy, tourism, and trade, according to a recent article from the Guardian.

For many years starting at the end of WWII Korean workers have been going to Japan to work in mines, but things started to heat up when last year South Korean courts made the Japanese companies compensate the Koreans' work.

This is slowly turning into a trade war, and as a result there are many aspects of power that can be analyzed.

Although no physical conflict between the two, there have been instances of hard power between the two. Japan has recently put some trade sanctions on South Korea, and they are both not on each others' white lists. This means it will be harder to trade with Korea, and many Japanese companies will have to go through other countries instead. Transportation costs will rise as a result.

But, when looking at realist or liberalist power, it is hard to determine.

On the Japanese side, I would say it is more realist because they are trying to make things better for the state even though their economic situation is unfavorable and businesses are suffering because of it. There is not a very humanitarian side to Japan's reasoning about the topic.

The Koreans are countering with the same logic. Overall, both sides are more realist because another aspect of liberalism is adhering to international law. While both sides are, they still are causing secondhand conflicts internationally, which is more realist (state oriented) than liberalist (internationally oriented).

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