EWC Insights: Asia-Pacific Transitions
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 PM HST
Hybrid (In-Person & Virtual)

Retribution or Restraint  
The Role of Reputation for Resolve in South Korea's Crisis Decision-Making

featuring
Dr. DongJoon Park
POSCO Visiting Fellow
East-West Center

Speaker’s Summary:

Conventional wisdom posits that states seek a strong reputation for resolve in order to deter adversaries. This, in turn, incentivizes actors to respond firmly against security threats. But not every crisis escalates; states may also choose to back down despite the potential risk of being perceived as weak. This talk will discuss why actors might choose to cultivate a ‘moderate’ reputation for resolve under certain conditions and consequently show restraint during crises. The talk will compare the decisions made by Presidents Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan after assassination attempts by North Korea in 1968 and 1983, respectively, to investigate these claims. 
 

Dr. DongJoon Park is a POSCO Visiting Fellow at the East-West Center and a senior researcher at the Peace and Democracy Institute (PDI) at Korea University. He received his PhD in Political Science from the department of Government at Georgetown University in August 2020. His research focuses on the role of reputations in international relations, alliance politics, and, more broadly, the impact of perceptions on crisis decision-making. He was a visiting scholar at the Institute of Security and Conflict Studies (ISCS) at George Washington University (2020-2021) and a James A. Kelly Korea Research Fellow in residence at Pacific Forum (2011-2012). 

 

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Wednesday, February 8
10:30am	Designing Powerful Learning Experiences Mānoa Campus, Online
11:00am	Got Kids? Join us- SPAM program- for lunch. Mānoa Campus, QLCSS 412
11:30am	Graduation and Transfer Check Honolulu Campus, Zoom
12:00pm	Friendship and Hospitality: The Jesuit-Confucian Encounter in Late Ming China Mānoa Campus, Webinar
1:30pm	Completing your FAFSA Honolulu Campus, Building 7, Room 309
2:00pm	EWC Insights: Retribution or Restraint Mānoa Campus, 1601 East-West Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96848
2:00pm	Study Abroad Info Meeting - Year in Machida, Japan Mānoa Campus, Moore 155A or Zoom
2:30pm	National Student Exchange Informational Meeting Mānoa Campus, Meeting will be held on zoom.
3:00pm	Study Abroad Info Meeting - Year in Kobe, Japan Mānoa Campus, Moore 155A or Zoom
3:00pm	Walk Backward into the Future: Oral History as Decolonizing Methodology Mānoa Campus, Gartley 103
3:00pm	Smallholder Definitions, Presents and Futures: Agriculture & Aquaculture Mānoa Campus, Online
3:30pm	ORE Seminar: Using Distributed Acoustic Sensing to observe surface gravity wav Mānoa Campus, Watanabe Hall 112 and on Zoom: Meeting ID 961 6222 2366, Passcode OREseminar
4:00pm	Imi Ho'ola Program Mānoa Campus, Online/Via Zoom
4:00pm	Book talk: Gail Okawa: Remembering Our Grandfathers’ Exile Mānoa Campus, In Person - Hamilton Library Room 306 or Zoom - Register below
5:00pm	BEARuary Mānoa Campus, Campus Center Ballroom
7:30pm	New and Traditional Music for Korean Instruments Mānoa Campus, Orvis Auditorium, Music Department