•2023 Ra Jong Yil Lecture

Korea’s Role in the New International Order

External speakers: Dr. Sey-Kyung Chung

Venue: Darwin College, Old Library

Event date: Tuesday, 7 March, 2023, 17:00PM

Sye Kyun Chung is a prominent Korean politician and civil society organization leader.

As U.S. national power, which has created and supported the international order for the past 70 years, has declined relatively, the international order is now entering a transformational phase. The Pax Americana system, or the American-centered uni-polar system, an international order based on liberalism and rules, no longer works. With the current system not working well and without knowing what the new system will look like, countries are looking for their own means of survival. Amid the deepening strategic conflict between the U.S. and China, for many states the trend of ‘my-country firstism’ and reshoring factories in their own territories is becoming prevailing in the economic sector due to the anti-globalization mood.

All of these factors represent difficult challenges for the Republic of Korea, which prefers a multilateral cooperation system as a leading trade country. South Korea, which aims to become a global pivotal state, intends to overcome these challenges and expand its roles and contributions by associating with like-minded countries in seeking a desirable new international order. An obstacle in performing Korea's role as a global pivotal state is the unstable security situation around the Korean Peninsula. How to stabilize the situation and contribute to the formation of a new international order is a major task for Korean diplomacy. As a former Korean prime minister, I would like, via this public lecture, to share my views on the desirable structure of the international order and the challenges facing Korean diplomacy. 

https://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/whats-on/ra-jong-yil-lecture/ra-jong-yil-lecture-2023-dr-chung-sye-kyun