Jeju Peace Institute

Since the end of the Cold war, it seemed that international politics would be explained as an extension of regionalism based on the universalism of Western democracy. From the 2000s, however, it has appeared to be entangled in a series of geopolitics and regionalism even though it is not just like direct struggles or immediate cooperation and compromise but in view point of a preoccupation with influence, indirect conflicts or disguised reconciliation and coordination. This article first examines the development of regionalism and geopolitics in East Asia through the conception of influence, and then shows that all of the actors around the Korean Peninsula manage the affairs of influence to maximize their own interests by exploiting the extension of regionalism or even geopolitical tensions. Inconclusion, this paper discusses how South Korea pursues an unification diplomacy in the doble-layered conditions of regionalism or geopolitics and how South Korea endeavors to reduce regional tensions between the powers in East Asia, and then proposes a strategy for the future. Contents Ⅰ. Introduction Ⅱ. Influencialization: Interface between Geopolitics and Regionalism Ⅲ. Return of Geopolitics Ⅳ. Expansion of Regionalism Ⅴ. Circumstances of the Korean Peninsula Ⅵ. Conclusion and Policy Recommendations