The Obama factor: responses in South Korea (2008-2009)
Abstract
An analysis is made in this article of responses in the South Korean media
to the rise of Barack Obama, starting with his appearance on the scene as
presidential contender, then being nominated as the official candidate of
the Democratic Party, en then being elected to the office of President of the
USA. At the outset the context is outlined of relations between South Korea
and the USA. Then the opinions and attitudes of South Korean politicians,
economists, editors, academics and letter writers from the general public at
key moments during 2008 and 2009 in the American presidential election
campaign are analysed. The focus is on expectations of Obama among the
South Korean citizens mainly with regard to his economic policy and his policy
on US foreign relations with South Korea. For the South Koreans Obama’s
stance towards North Korea on its development of a nuclear capability and the
future of the foreign trade agreement between the USA and South Korea was
crucial. The analysis in this article of the reactions to Obama’s rise expressed
in the South Korean newspapers confirms that globalisation and glocalisation
are concurrent processes in the contemporary world. On the one hand a set
of liberal moral values has become dominant among moderates all over the
world that unites them in their attitudes towards global events. On the other
hand those generic values only assume real significance for people when they
are applied to local issues.
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- Faculty of Humanities [2033]