Critical Digital Diplomacy as a Global Challenge: The South Korean Experience
| Author | Jan Melissen,Emillie V. Keulenaar |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12425 |
| Date | 01 September 2017 |
| Published date | 01 September 2017 |
Critical Digital Diplomacy as a Global
Challenge: The South Korean Experience
Jan Melissen
Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’and University of Antwerp
Emillie V. de Keulenaar
University of Amsterdam
Abstract
An important debate on the impact of digitization on diplomatic practice is currently taking place in most of the world’s diplo-
matic services and beyond. Western perspectives do however dominate writings on the subject and there is scope for import-
ing new theoretical notions into these discussions. This article on digital diplomacy aims to show that South Korea’s practices
harmonize well with insights from new media theory, and that both inform this debate. New media theory advocates the
examination of the new digital environment in which diplomatic interactions are unfolding, and it articulates the politics
behind digital technology. We argue that existing, ‘analogue’diplomacy is not merely superimposed onto technologies now
shaping an environment that is facilitating digitally native practices. The debate on digital diplomacy can equally benefit from
analysis of the experiences of South Korea. Technological development and innovation impact on the sphere of foreign policy,
to the extent that ‘becoming technological’has turned into an important Korean export asset. We briefly review four ways in
which South Korea applied technology to diplomacy. Our analysis concludes with general recommendations for diplomatic
practitioners across the world, particularly those who still look at new technologies, including social media, as mere open and
freely available ‘services’.
Policy Implications
•Foreign ministries (MFAs) across the world should embrace conceptions of technology that no longer separate substance
from technique, and instruments from language.
•Diplomats should realize that digital diplomacy constitutes engagement with how culture, information and relations are
systematized in software, such as with the counteracting of algorithms that do not work in one’s favour.
•As diplomacy is increasingly enacted in a digital environment, diplomats should be critical of real-life actors behind soft-
ware, of their intentions and how they pursue their aims, and with what effect.
•MFAs that have the capability to create software for diplomatic purposes but do not yet do so, are at a disadvantage in
comparison with more astute counterparts and non-governmental actors.
•Mechanisms constituting digital technologies can be used as a medium to operationalize political and diplomatic interests.
MFAs should explore all this and put it into practice to improve policy-making.
This article aims to throw new light on the current debate
concerning diplomacy in the digital age —digital diplomacy
for short —by combining reflections inspired by literature
on new media with an analysis of South Korean practice. As
a high-tech economy aiming to invest in its network power
to compensate for its geopolitical predicament, the Republic
of Korea (ROK; hereafter South Korea) is in a good position
to maximize the diplomatic potential of digital technology.
Following the Japanese example in various ways, South
Korea largely rebuilt itself with the help of digital technol-
ogy throughout the second half of the twentieth century
(Mahlich and Pascha, 2012). It has promoted itself as a dis-
tinguished high-end, technologically advanced country
among its partners in the Organization for Economic Coop-
eration and Development (OECD) (Ok, 2011).
South Korea’s practices as a digital middle power harmo-
nize well with insights from new media theory. This article
will show that, taken together, they add theoretical and
non-Western ingredients to the current global debate on
digital diplomacy.
1
Existing literature on digital diplomacy
often overlooks past and recent research originating from
new media studies. The purpose of this article is to show
how this field can be beneficial to digital diplomacy. By giv-
ing preference to the contribution from this literature, we
underline the importance of its research tradition when
studying digital diplomacy. Following this introduction, we
discuss how new media literature helps us look at the
impact of digitization as an environment in which diplomacy
is enacted. Digital diplomacy can be more than social media
and other tools available for diplomats to use (Manor 2016).
©2017 University of Durham and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Global Policy (2017) 8:3 doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12425
Global Policy Volume 8 . Issue 3 . September 2017
294
Research Article
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