ABSTRACT
In conclusion, this book has shown that at the core of South Korea’s relationship with global affairs lies the objective of expanding Seoul’s international standing in order to ensure national autonomy. Global foreign policy has been a means of validating the risen international status of the country and a way of trying to establish South Korea as a rule maker rather than a rule follower. Its legitimation was dominated by narratives about fostering a premium nation brand and extensive ties around the world against a referenced historiography of vulnerability due to the lack of international connections and knowledge. Global foreign policy here was quite explicitly seen as a realization of a dream of greater autonomy in a challenging regional security environment.
