[특집] 경제력과 국가안보

Economics and National Security: Korean Security and East Asian Security after the Economic Crisis of 1997

This study examines the relationship between economics and national security with the case of national security in Korea after the economic crisis of 1997. The main question is what kind of impact the economic crisis of 1997 has had on Korean national security. This study consists of three parts. First part examines the impact of the economic crisis of 1997 on military security of Korea. Main focus is on the domestic dynamics in Korean political economy after the crisis. Second part deals with the economic security of Korea after the crisis. Part three examines how has the crisis of 1997 which was regional phenomenon, affected the regional security in East Asia and in turn the national security of Korea. This study draws three main conclusions. First of all, the economic crisis of 1997 had negative impact on the military security of Korea by eroding material base of national security. The sharp decrease of defence budget caused by the economic crisis was the major blow to the Korea's military security. However, this study wants to emphasize that the more critical impact of the economic crisis on the Korean national security was that the economic crisis provided the atmosphere in which people could questioned existing budget priority to military security-related matters over other social necessities. There has been a taboo in Korea on questioning the defence budget due to the confrontational situation in the Korean peninsular. The emergence of imminent social and economic problems triggered the conflict over the budget allocation and the voice that demand budget priority to socioeconomic over military matters began to receive widen popular support. The second conclusion is that the economic security has been eroded significantly by the economic crisis and the efforts to overcome it. The Korean economy has been opened up in the efforts to attract more foreign capital. Unlike the military security which can be improved as the economic condition improved, the economic security is hard to improved since the strocture and the way the Korean economy operates changed fundamentally. Especially, the sensitivity and vulnerability of the Korean economy has sjgnificantly increased as the foreign economic forces began to play more important role than ever. In short, as the result of the economic crisis of 1997, economic security has been severely weakened and also it provided the opportunity to realize the importance of non-military security. Finally, the economic crisis which swept most of East Asian countries did not seen to alter existing power balance among major actors in East Asian international relations. The United States still assumes hegemonic status in the region and Japan is continuing her efforts to improve its political and military position in the region in spite of severe economic difficulties. Despite of this continuity, there have been two important changes in perception politics in East Asian international relations. First, in the course of overcoming economic crisis, the negative perception toward the United States spread among East Asian countries including the Korea. The United States was perceived as representative of Western economic actors such as international financial institutions and Western banks and investors. Born Asian leaders criticized that the United States take advantage of helpless Asia countries in order to expand her economic and political influence in the region. This resentment toward the United States awakened Asian countries and helped the formation of Asian identity. Whereas the U.S. actions caused resentment, China stood to gain influence by providing needed leadership. All these development could trigger the change of regional order in East Asia. Especially, if the China wants to use this situation as the opportunity to expand her influence in the region including over the Korea, that would cause tension between the U.S and China.