For years, South Korean diplomacy has focused on Hallyu, promoting Korean popular culture to the world. As K-pop, K-beauty, and K-dramas have taken over the world, the goal is to translate this interest into influence.

Yet, with North Korea now a party to the Russo-Ukrainian War, vowing to support their Russian ally until victory, we see the limits of cultural influence, or soft power, on global great power politics.

Soft Power is a concept articulated by Joseph Nye that seeks to explore the application of cultural power to international politics. Not all power needs to be material or hard. Culture can influence and attract, possibly enabling a new form of diplomacy. Yet, the inherent limitation of soft power has always been demonstrated as an empirical effect. It is a theory in search of real-world impact.

South Korean foreign policy is based on one goal: survival. After the brutal Korean War in the early 1950s, South Korea remained technically engaged in constant hostility with North Korea. North Korea has repeatedly stated its goal of destroying South Korean democracy to institute authoritarian rule under Kim Jong-un on the peninsula. North Korea has the entire megacity of Seoul in its artillery sights.

Given this reality, South Korea can no longer let soft power take precedence and must promote a new blended approach to deny any gains to North Korea. It would be detrimental to global peace to let North Korea become an effective mercenary force, trading veteran combat forces for resources, funds, and nuclear weapons development.

South Korea’s Options

North Korea has allied itself with Russia, promising over 10,000 troops that will be trained to join the front in Ukraine. Since Russia has such a need for soldiers, North Korea is in a stronger position to bargain. North Korea can request key Russian knowledge on space technologies and nuclear capabilities. An emboldened North Korea, with an improved nuclear program, operational spy satellites, and a combat-tested military, would prove to be a dangerous security threat to South Korea.

South Korea has a few options in replying to North Korea’s move. The simplest option is to supply weaponry and funding support to Ukraine. The Korean weapons industry, also known as K-Defense, has been growing more rapidly than any other global supplier since 2017. South Korea is reconsidering sending offensive weapons to Ukraine despite the current legislation against supplying arms to war zones.

The often unstated option is to engage in hybrid warfare and enter into a campaign of sabotage and denial of North Korean gains. South Korea could impede the development of North Korean weapons programs through a campaign of sabotage or engage North Koreans in Russia with psychological operations that could encourage defections and destroy morale.

The least likely option is for Seoul to match Pyongyang and become a party to the conflict by sending troops to Ukraine. Logistically, diplomatically, and strategically, this operation would be difficult to complete. Neither South Korea nor North Korea have much experience with modern hybrid warfare; putting boots on the ground would lead to heavy casualties for both states’ militaries.

According to NATO, even the shipment of weapons would constitute a “significant escalation” of the conflict. Direct intervention would incur more strategic and legal issues than gains.

A New Path

The bottom line is that a policy of influence through soft power is limited. With it, a nation can attract interest and awareness, promote tourism, and increase trade, but as a means of coercion, it is impotent.

To coerce North Korea to back down in its aggressive campaign against South Korea, the South needs to try new methods and means to deny gains to the adversary, including supporting Ukraine in hybrid operations as Russia prepares to launch North Korean soldiers against the country. The great advantage of hybrid operations, actions below the threshold of armed conflict, is that it would allow South Korea to maintain a level of independence that keeps their policy of strategic ambiguity intact.

Brandon Valeriano is an Assistant Professor at Seton Hall University who writes mainly about hybrid warfare and K-Pop as a devoted fan of Twice, NewJeans, and Loona.  

Qing Leasure is a sophomore student in Seton Hall’s School of Diplomacy and part of the DiploLab, the Undergraduate research arm of the School.

Image: Kangsadarn S. / Shutterstock.com.