Conceptual Warfare: From Asia to the Indo-Pacific, Great Powers' Strategies for Spatial Domination and Korea's Choice

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Korea's direction and the conditions for the success of the 'Indo-Pacific Strategy' amidst fierce conceptual warfare in international politics

Since the modern era, major world powers have created regional concepts to define boundaries and establish strategic spaces advantageous to themselves, engaging in competition. Beginning with the confrontation between the 'Pacific,' advocated by the United States in the late 19th century, and 'Asia,' which emerged in response to the pressure of Western imperialism, followed by the rise of 'Asia-Pacific' as a concept driving neoliberal globalization in the post-Cold War era, and 'East Asia' which emerged as a counter-response, and finally the 'Indo-Pacific,' which has become a global topic amidst the current US-China rivalry, the international community has always been engaged in fierce competition over the establishment of concepts. Therefore, the history of international politics can be said to be the history of conceptual warfare.

While Korea has remained on the periphery in the history of conceptual struggles, it has now become an advanced middle power with the responsibility of constructing a new regional order. This book contemplates what Korea, positioned on the periphery of conceptual warfare, must do to emerge at the center of the 'Indo-Pacific' strategic map.

Through a 'conceptual history approach,' it examines the history of conceptual struggles that have unfolded fiercely, while simultaneously exploring the meaning of the 'Indo-Pacific' concept for us today, and seeking ways for Korea to embrace this concept and establish policy agendas in a specific direction.

Why the 'Indo-Pacific' Now? The History of Conceptual Warfare for Global Hegemony

In December 2022, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration officially announced the specific details of its 'Indo-Pacific Strategy for Freedom, Peace, and Prosperity.' It also defined the Indo-Pacific Strategy as the 'Yoon Suk-yeol administration's diplomatic doctrine' and stated its intention to pursue it as a core foreign policy of the government. As the rivalry between the US and China intensifies, and as the US's move to draw in India to check China becomes more visible, the importance of the Indo-Pacific has grown, making it impossible for Korea to ignore this concept. This book begins with the question of why Korea must adopt the Indo-Pacific concept amidst these changes in the international environment.

Historically, major world powers have created regional terms to define boundaries and establish strategic spaces advantageous to themselves, engaging in competition to achieve global hegemony. This involves exercising a form of structural power not by directly regulating the actions of others, but by confining or excluding them within a specific space. The dominant powers use spatial concepts to control their own political and social actions and to distinguish themselves from others. Consequently, some nations achieve global hegemony, while those who feel a discrepancy between their nation's status and reality or aspirations seek to propose counter-concepts. This book deals with the fierce international conflicts surrounding regional terms and the power maps formed by them, defining this as 'conceptual warfare.'

The three core conceptual axes of this warfare are Asia-Pacific, East Asia, and Indo-Pacific. The Asia-Pacific is the strategic space delineated by the United States, which has established itself as the sole global superpower, with the goal of promoting neoliberal globalization. East Asia emerged as a counter-concept to this, representing a space that seeks capitalism based on indigenous notions and institutions, and even an alternative civilization. Finally, the Indo-Pacific can be described as a space of re-globalization where the United States aims to curb China's hegemonic rise while simultaneously modifying neoliberal globalization.

21st-century international politics is unfolding through the strategic competition, alliances, and compromises between great powers seeking spatial domination centered around these three conceptual axes, and major powers seeking to accept and adapt them. Amidst this, Korea is struggling to transition its conceptual framework from Asia-Pacific to East Asia, and then from East Asia to the Indo-Pacific, grappling with how to establish an autonomous foreign strategy. This book argues that to find an answer to this question, Korea must first understand the meaning of each regional term and the history of conflict and confrontation among these terms. Through this understanding, it seeks to chart a course for Korea's Indo-Pacific strategy and, by extension, its international strategy.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction: Spatial Domination and Conceptual Warfare

The Beginning of Conceptual Warfare over Space

Space, Concepts, and Regions

Analysis Through a Conceptual History Approach

What This Book Aims to Convey Through the History of Conceptual Warfare

Chapter 1: Asia vs. the Pacific, the Prelude to Conceptual Warfare

The Traditional Worldview of 'Tianxia' (天下)

The Replacement of Civilizations: From Tianxia to Asia

Asia as a Racial Concept

Korea's Conceptual Warfare

The Emergence of the Pacific Concept

The Dissemination of the Pacific Concept

The Emergence of the Counter-Concept 'East Asia'

The Dissemination of the East Asian Concept: The East Asian Cooperative Theory

The East Asian Cooperative Theory and Miki Kiyoshi

Joseon's Adoption of the East Asian Cooperative Theory

Pacific vs. East Asia: The Clash and War of Two Concepts

Chapter 2: From the Pacific to the Asia-Pacific

The Establishment of the Post-War Order and the Evolution of the Pacific Concept

The Resurgence of the Pacific as an Economic Concept

The Emergence of the Asia-Pacific Concept

The Dissemination of the Asia-Pacific Concept

The Relationship Between American Hegemony and the Asia-Pacific Concept

Chapter 3: The Reconstruction of East Asia

The Re-emergence of the Concept of East Asia

The Miraculous East Asia, The Crisis-Ridden East Asia

East Asia as a Cultural Space

China's Efforts to Gain Dominance in East Asia

The Concept of an East Asian Community Proposed by Japan

Conceptual Warfare Between China and Japan Over the East Asian Space

The Counterattack of the Asia-Pacific

The Retreat of the East Asian Concept

Chapter 4 The Emergence and Competition of the Indo-Pacific

The Rise of the Indo-Pacific

Changes in the Power Distribution Structure Surrounding the Indo-Pacific

Japan's Geopolitical Realignment Through the Indo-Pacific Concept

India's Indo-Pacific Strategy

Australia's Indo-Pacific Strategy

The United States' Indo-Pacific Strategy

China's Resistance to the Indo-Pacific Strategy

The Security Dilemma of Over-Indemnification in the Indo-Pacific Region

Korea's Deepening Concerns

Chapter 5 From Northeast Asia to Indo-Pacific

Korea: Northeast Asia vs. Indo-Pacific

The Origin and Emergence of the Concept of Northeast Asia

Korea's Adherence to the Familiar Concept of Northeast Asia

The Unfamiliar Concept of Indo-Pacific for Korea

Korea's Late Acceptance of the Indo-Pacific Concept

Conditions for Making the Indo-Pacific a Familiar Space

Chapter 6: Seven Conditions for the Success of Korea's Indo-Pacific Strategy

What Can We Learn from the History of Conceptual Wars?

1. Establish a concept that encompasses future changes in a global context.

2. Make the Indo-Pacific a familiar space: Strengthen engagement with India and Southeast Asia.

3. Set the overarching goals of the Indo-Pacific Strategy.

4. Infuse the Indo-Pacific concept with strategic direction: A 'Strategic Balancing' strategy.

5. Devise a 'Multi-layered Space' strategy.

6. Pursue network diplomacy as an advanced middle power.

7. Enhance institutional capacity.

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