Constructing Otherness: Japanese security identity and South Korea foreign policy discourse 2009-2012

Abstract

In the last twenty years Japan committed to a series of foreign policy choices which aroused controversy both domestically and abroad. Japan's foreign policy line points towards a fully-fledged sovereignty that has been missing since the establishment of the SCAP. Upon its 2009 General Elections victory, the Democratic Party of Japan promised to break with the previous political ideology of pork and patronage, pursuing a more Asia-focused foreign policy. Despite intial enthusiasm, the resurgence of controversies like the Dokdo/Takeshima dispute and the Comfort Women issue jeopardized the establishment of future-oriented relations with South Korea, with whom Japan shares millennia of culture and democratic values. I will analyze how the official foreign policy discourse of the 2009-2012 DPJ administration constructed the image of the South Korean 'other', considering possible domestic and international obstacles to full cooperation. My research will aim at trying to shed more light on Japan's foreign policy and security issues in Northeast Asia, adopting a constructivist perspective on international relations studies.