University of Bath PHD Identity Maintenance & Foreign Policy Decision-Making: The Quest for Ontological Security in the DPRK Bolton, Derek Award date: 2018 Awarding institution: University of Bath Link to publication Alternative formats If you require this document in an alternative format, please contact: [email protected] General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 02. Oct. 2021 1 Identity Maintenance & Foreign Policy Decision-Making: The Quest for Ontological Security in the DPRK Derek Bolton A Thesis Submitted for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy University of Bath Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies: September 2017 COPYRIGHT Attention is drawn to the fact that copyright of this thesis/portfolio rests with the author and copyright of any previously published materials included may rest with third parties. A copy of this thesis/portfolio has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it understands that they must not copy it or use material from it except as permitted by law or with the consent of the author or other copyright owners, as applicable This thesis/portfolio may be made available for consultation within the University Library and may be photocopied or lent to other libraries for the purposes of consultation with effect from………………. Signed on behalf of the Faculty/School of................................... 2 Table of Contents: Chapter 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………...……4 Section 1: North Korea & International Security Theory: A Cursory Intro Section 2: Evolution & Gaps in Analysis on North Korea Section 3: Overview of An Ontological Security Framework Section 4: Specifying Constructivism: Ontology & Epistemology Chapter 2 The Need for An Ontological Security Framework……………………....23 Section 1: What is Security? Section 2: Introducing Ontological Security Section 3: Communal Narrative & Nations Section 4: An Ontological Security Argument Chapter 3 Ontological Security in Foreign Policy Decision-Making: Forging a Framework…………………………………………………………………………...49 Section 1: Communal Narrative, Ontological Security & FPA Section 2: SRT & National Narratives: Structuring and Content Section 3: The Role of National Narrative in Perception Section 4: Specifying An Ontological Security Framework Chapter 4 North Korea – A Hard Case Study………………………………………..74 Section 1: A Hard Case Section 2: Setting Up The Case Study Section 3: Empirical Results Of Discourse Analysis Chapter 5 DPRK Foreign Policy: 1950-1969………………………………………..98 Section 1: “Through Our Own Forces”: The Korean War Section 2: “An Independent National Economy” Section 3: “Equality and Respect”: The Sino-Soviet Split Section 4: “Unification” and “Respect”: The Second Korean War Chapter 6 DPRK Foreign Policy: 1970-1994………………………………………127 Section 1: “Independent Unification Without Interference” – The Joint Communiqué Section 2: “Unified”, “Pride” & “Prestige” - DPRK Brinkmanship: 1973-1979 Section 3: Challenge to “Prestige”: Terrorism & The 1980s Section 4: “Modern”, “Independent” & “Self-Reliant”: The DPRK Nuclear Program Chapter 7 Conclusions……………………………………………………………...155 Section 1: Empirical Results & Ontological Security Section 2: Limitations of Findings & Further Implications Section 3: Ontological Security & Conflict Resolution Section 4: Final Remarks Bibliography………………………………………………………………………...172 3 “Let cowards flinch and traitors sneer. We’ll keep the red flag flying here.” – Kim IL Sung1 Abstract This thesis analyzes how the need for ontological security (OS), the ‘security of being’, impacts the foreign policy decision-making of states. Traditional security studies focus primarily on physical threats to the state. By contrast, an OS framework argues individuals feel secure when they are able to maintain communal narrative. This narrative in turn becomes the lens through which policymakers, and thus states, analyze events, while also becoming a potential source of conflict if challenged. Therefore, while physical security is still important, one is better positioned to account for perceptions of physical (and non physical) threats, and subsequent policies seemingly contradictory to traditional security studies, by employing an OS framework. While this will be explored within the context of the DPRK, the applicability of such a framework is far greater, holding key insights for International Relations and Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). DPRK narrative formed out of the postcolonial nationalism of Japanese occupation, culminating into the hyper-nationalist ideology of Juche. North Korea’s seemingly ‘abnormal’ behavior might in turn be indicative of its unique national narrative and history of colonization and humiliation, leading to a different set of behavioral expectations than states whose narratives do not encompass such stories or reference points. While not all states are expected to act in the same manner as North Korea, the framework would expect them to defend and promote their respective national narratives. Moreover, while narratives can double as sources of legitimacy, as seen increasingly in the DPRK, this in no way detracts from, and merely compounds, the emphasis on narrative maintenance. Examining the historical record, it is argued the OS framework is consistently better at accounting for DPRK policies than traditional security studies. Therefore, more broadly in FPA, by taking seriously group narrative as a key component of OS, one can better account for perceptions and foreign policy decision-making. 1 Kim Il Sung, “On Improving and Strengthening the Work of Commodity Circulation (Speech Delivered at a National Conference of Activists in Trade, February 14, 1957)” in Kim Il Sung Selected Works Vol. II (Foreign Languages Publishing House Pyongyang, 1975) 4 Chapter 1 Introduction The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) provides an exceptionally interesting case study for scholars and practitioners of International Relations (IR). In addition to its topical relevance, with Pyongyang continuing to grip headlines through its bellicose rhetoric and nuclear and ballistic missile tests, the country also poses a thought-provoking theoretical question of how best to account for state behavior. Scholars and policymakers working on North Korea are almost uniform in their assessment that the regime is not ‘crazy’ or ‘irrational’, as is often portrayed in the media. At the same time, they have struggled to craft a holistic account of DPRK behavior. This is largely a result of mischaracterizations of the regime and problematized approaches to understanding Pyongyang’s perceptions and interests, all of which, it is argued, require a closer examination of DPRK identity. While recent shifts in analysis have made great strides towards this end, important gaps remain; in particular why and how does identity influence foreign policy in the DPRK, or, for that matter, states in general? Part of the problem is that the larger frameworks of IR theory within which works on the DPRK operate, suffer from similar shortcomings. 1. North Korea & International Security Theory: A Cursory Intro Analogous to the works on North Korea explored below, there has been a historical emphasis in IR on factors that, by themselves, leave significant gaps in our understanding of state behavior. While more recent works have sought to incorporate ideational factors into the analytical picture, much remains to be done in exposing how and why they are important. Indeed, since the acceleration of constructivism, and calls by Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) to further examine perception, identity has taken a more central role. Yet despite this newfound enthusiasm, criticisms abound, in part due to the under-conceptualized relationship between identity and interests, usually addressed through offhanded references to how identity constitutes interests.2 Recent work on ontological security (OS) is therefore of great interest due to its reconceptualization of this relationship to one where states have an interest in maintaining identity.3 Building from these works, the thesis seeks to account for previously inexplicable state behavior by crafting an OS framework, strengthening our ability to conduct more robust analysis (Ch. 2 and 3). 2 Bill McSweeney, Security, Identity and Interests: A Sociology of International Relations (Cambridge University Press, 1999); Felix Berenskoetter, “Parameters of a National Biography” European Journal of International Relations, Vol. 20, No. 1 (2014); Felix Berenskoetter, “Identity in International Relations” in R. Denemark (ed.) The International Studies Encyclopedia (Wiley- Blackwell, 2010) 3 See: McSweeney, Security; Jef Huysmans, “Security! What Do You Mean? From Concept to Thick Signifier” European Journal of International Relations, Vol. 4, No. 2 (1998); Eli