Elite Opinion and the “Belt and Road” Debate in South Korea

This article analyses elite opinion in South Korea about China’s “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) in order to better understand how this Asia-Pacific middle power and US ally is approaching the initiative. Through a close analysis of the writing of foreign-policy elites in South Korea, the study finds that OBOR was generally depicted as significant to China’s re-emergence in regional and global affairs, but not as wholly detrimental to South Korean interests. Elites did not speak with one voice, but presented the government with a comparatively sanguine view of OBOR. The debate, we illustrate, created unlikely alliances between left- and right-leaning elites about some aspects of the initiative, but it also revealed tensions among conservative and centrist elites. In seeking to demonstrate their relevance to policymakers, however, elites inadvertently underlined their growing distance from the general public.

韩国的精英意见和 “一带一路”讨论

关键词：韩国，中国，一带一路，精英意见，外交政策

本文通过分析韩国精英阶层对中国的“一带一路“战略的看法，以加强理解此亚太地区的中等强国及美国同盟是如何对待这个倡议的。通过切近分析韩国外交政策精英发表的作品，本研究发现“一带一路”普遍被认为对于中国在地区和全球事务中的重新崛起来说意义重大，而对韩国利益来说并不完全是破坏性的。精英人士并没有一个统一的声音，但是提供给政府的是一个对”一带一路“相对乐观的观点。我们的研究表明，对”一带一路“的讨论创造了左倾和右倾精英之间就这个倡议的某些方面的原本可能性极小的联盟， 但它也揭示出保守主义和持中间立场的精英之间的紧张关系。然而，精英阶层为向决策者显示其重要性，无意间凸显出了他们与普通大众之间渐行渐远的距离。