‘Koreans are much stronger than they think’

The time has come for the country to devise a national strategy which balances the public interest of a fair and free world order with its own interests.

Sohn In-jooThe author is a professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Seoul National University. “I’m much stronger than I think.” That’s the motto of Hwang Seong-bin — the marvelous outfielder of Lotte Giants, a team in the Korean professional baseball league. He went through an excruciating growth process. Every day was a fierce battle until he was finally included in the starting lineup of the Busan-based baseball team. Hwang doesn’t hesitate to slide head first into first base whenever he sees a chance. Hwang’s uniform is always covered in dirt. After spending a long time in obscurity, he recalled, “Every moment of my life as an athlete was a crisis.”

Such determination and passion can be found in the Korean athletes during the 2024 Paris Olympics, too. A classic example of this fighting spirt is Kim Woo-jin, who became a new legend in Korean archery. A boy from the countryside was recruited as a member of Team Korea thanks to his excellent archery skills. After overcoming repeated failures in the individual events of the past three Summer Games, Kim finally grabbed three gold medals in archery at the Paris Olympics.

The amazing performances of Korean archers, including Kim, in the Olympics are owed to the incredibly innovative system that systematizes its training for excellent players and applies cutting-edge technologies to the sport. Hyundai Motor Group cooperated with the Archery Association through its Hyundai-Kia joint research and development (R&D) center in Namyangju, Gyeonggi. The archery team even introduced sophisticated technologies from Silicon Valley to its training.

“Koreans are much stronger than they think,” said a distinguished foreign scholar about a number of Koreans active in various fields such as trade, finance, science and technology, culture and arts, and sports. Koreans are an energetic, vibrant and forward-looking people by nature. But most of them are not willing to accept their own merits whether at home or abroad. Sometimes, however, Koreans must accept them even if they don’t want to, because it gives them the new energy and courage desperately needed to advance to the next level.

The achievements the Korean people have made over the past 150 years since the country’s opening to the rest of the world are unrivaled in history. They were the results of their persistent struggle and enthusiasm — and a stroke of luck. After its successful industrialization and democratization, Korea faces a historic turning point not only due to its ever-deepening political conflict, ominous population decline and slowed growth, but also due to its external risks of the Sino-U.S. competition and supply chain disruptions.

Will Korea fall from the ranks of advanced economies or take a further leap forward as a country leading world peace and prosperity? With this urgent awareness of the problem, a “Global Korea Cluster” research team at the Institute for Future Strategy at Seoul National University recently published a policy report titled “Strategy of a Powerful Nation for Economic Prosperity: Convergence of Industry, Culture, and Security.” The policy report seeks a national strategy to improve the lives of the Korean people and expand opportunities for economic and cultural prosperity.

Dr. Song Chi-woong of the Science and Technology Policy Institute, who participated in writing this report, noticed the coexistence of diverse worldviews in Korea. He pointed out that the people in their 70s and older generally have a worldview of developing countries while those in their 50s and 60s have a worldview of middle income developing countries — and those in their 30s and 40s have a worldview of upper-tier developing countries whereas those in their teens and 20s have a worldview of developed countries. This is a by-product of the country’s compressed growth. To overcome this gap, a healthy debate on a promising future carries more significance than the complex memories of the past.

What kind of community do we want to create and pass on to the next generation? Now is the time when we must discuss the future vision of our country. The report suggests we pursue the identity of an “open network nation” rather than a “closed nationalist model.” The report also argues that Korea needs to devise its national strategies from the perspective of a country “located at the center of global networks” rather than passively following the perspective of superpowers like the United States and China, which are inclined to see Korea as a peripheral country. The report emphasizes the construction of a manufacturing, logistics, investment, research and cultural ecosystem led by the private sector, not the government. In other words, Korea must draw up a strategy that supports individuals’ potentials to be realized through innovation and creativity in an open environment and system.

More specifically, the report proposes taking a “multiple hub and spoke” production base approach to tackle the advanced technology competition and supply chain battle between the United States and China. Based on this scheme, global technology companies can help develop innovative industries in Korea and build a stable supply chain through global production bases, the report says. To do that, Korea must create an environment where innovative companies from around the world can freely enter and start businesses here.

Korea also must devise a policy aimed at achieving the “nomadization” of high-tech talents, the establishment of global R&D centers and local government-led regional innovation hubs, as well as the expansion of private investment in innovative companies. The concept of the ‘7 Hubs Plus 4’ initiative is to transform Korea into a planning, R&D, design and marketing innovation zone. It aims to position the country as the center of a wheel to connect the production bases of seven regions, including Southeast Asia, Latin America, East Africa and Eastern Europe, with the four regions of the United States, China, Russia and Japan — just like spokes of a logistics network.

Building the multi-spoke production base here is a strategy for Korea to establish itself as a center of global economic innovation far beyond the existing free trade agreements. To this end, the Korean government must sign comprehensive partnership agreements with major global hub countries and jointly develop production zones in the form of spokes to share economic prosperity.

As part of the “manufacturing +α” strategy, I propose developing a Korea-led popular culture platform and connecting Korea’s cultural industry more openly with the rest of the world. The key is not to have K-culture limited to Korea and Koreans, but to utilize global talents from various countries to overcome genre and regional boundaries. We must further advance our cultural creativity based on the spirit of free acceptance and openness to global culture.

Korea can contribute to leading global culture through an open network pop culture platform. For instance, we can consider including music and dramas from Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America in domestic music charts and drama awards in order to create global charts and award ceremonies led by Korea, similar to the Billboard charts and Emmy Awards in the United States.

At the same time, a strategy to minimize our security risks is needed to build a global innovation and production network and an online and offline pop culture ecosystem centered on Korea. If Korea’s maritime logistics are disrupted due to security threats, Korea’s losses will surely be enormous. Dr. Lee Jae-joon from the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, a co-author of the report, stressed the importance of further expanding the role of the Korea-U.S. alliance on a bilateral level and establishing a Korea-driven maritime security cooperation body on a multilateral level. That will help ensure the safety of maritime traffic routes while minimizing Korea’s financial burden.

The report proposed establishing a defensive military support system, such as reconnaissance and escort, for the approaching the U.S. naval forces to maintain the status quo of the Indo-Pacific maritime security order. The report also proposed a policy of supporting shipbuilding and repairing naval vessels by utilizing Korea’s shipbuilding capabilities. It is also necessary to deter malicious attempts by potential enemies to control the sensitive seas by periodically conducting joint maritime drills with countries located at major junctions of maritime traffic routes.

As a trading nation, Korea has enjoyed the benefits of the liberal world order. The time has come for the country to devise a national strategy which balances the public interest of a fair and free world order with its own interests. Korea must redefine its national interests in a more comprehensive and enlightened way. This approach can deserve the respect and support of the international community.

Korea must move toward an open network-based power with vigor and inclusive thinking. For such bold challenges and journeys, a grand strategy on a global scale is needed. The country must have the wisdom and courage to read the big picture of the world order and present a new picture rather than sticking with its divisive past, as effectively implied by the renowned scholar, who told me in an international seminar, “Koreans are much stronger than they think.” Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.