ABSTRACT South Korea’s diplomatic practice was traditionally marked by a distinct lack of transparency. The early struggle for political legitimacy as one-half of a divided nation and ongoing security threats placed a high premium on secrecy. Even today, diplomatic studies remains an undeveloped field. Despite the establishment of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA) and the opening of a Centre for Diplomatic History, the amount of scholarship on the foreign ministry itself and its diplomats remains remarkably low. However, South Korea is a society undergoing momentous societal transformation. What commenced with economic development in the 1980s, and continued with political development in the 1990s evolved into societal development in the 2000s. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has not been immune to these changes. MOFA is undergoing democratization and becoming more representative of broader South Korean society. It is being called on more often to serve the Korean public and to be more accountable for its actions. Finally, there is growing public recognition of the important role that the foreign ministry plays in securing South Korea’s political, economic, and security interests. This article looks at the underlying conditions which suggest the time is ripe for a practice turn in South Korean international relations, and a turn to diplomatic studies. The article highlights important research questions on the foreign ministry, which could contribute to the broader field of diplomatic studies, and justifySouth Korea as an ideal case study to highlight the benefits of studying states’ foreign services.

中文翻译：

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韩国外交部的传统与现代

摘要 韩国的外交实践历来以明显缺乏透明度为标志。作为一个分裂国家的二分之一的政治合法性的早期斗争和持续的安全威胁，高度重视保密。即使在今天，外交研究仍然是一个未开发的领域。尽管韩国国立外交学院（KNDA）成立并开设了外交史中心，但外交部本身及其外交官的奖学金金额仍然非常低。然而，韩国是一个正在经历重大社会变革的社会。从 1980 年代的经济发展开始，并随着 1990 年代的政治发展继续发展，演变为 2000 年代的社会发展。外交部（MOFA）也未能幸免于这些变化。MOFA 正在经历民主化并成为更广泛的韩国社会的代表。它更常被要求为韩国公众服务，并对其行为承担更多责任。最后，公众越来越认识到外交部在确保韩国政治、经济和安全利益方面发挥的重要作用。本文着眼于表明韩国国际关系实践转向和外交研究转向时机成熟的潜在条件。这篇文章强调了关于外交部的重要研究问题，这些问题可能有助于更广泛的外交研究领域，并证明韩国是一个理想的案例研究，以突出研究国家外交服务的好处。