ABSTRACT

As a consequence of the growing awareness of the limitations of an over-reliance on the deployment of hard power, governments have shown an increasing willingness to add soft power strategies to their portfolio of diplomatic resources with sport emerging as a major element. The aim of this study is to analyse the utilisation of sport as a part of soft power strategies in South Korea and how the strategies developed over the period from the late 1970s to 2017. The research adopted a qualitative case study research design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and the analysis of relevant, but mainly governmental, documentary sources. Among the key findings of the research were that: a) the use of sport soft power for diplomatic purposes by the South Korean government was a development of the use of sport in connection with domestic political objectives; b) the range and sophistication of sport soft power initiatives increased steadily over the 40 year period; c) the deployment of sport soft power was strongly influenced by South Korea’s regional geopolitical environment.

摘要

由于人们越来越意识到过度依赖硬实力部署的局限性，各国政府显示出越来越愿意在其外交资源中增加软实力战略，而体育运动已成为主要内容。这项研究的目的是分析体育在韩国作为软实力战略的一部分的利用，以及该战略在1970年代末至2017年期间的发展情况。该研究采用了定性的案例研究设计。数据是通过半结构化访谈和相关（但主要是政府）文献来源的分析收集的。该研究的主要发现包括：a）韩国政府出于外交目的使用体育软实力是与国内政治目标相关的体育发展的发展；b）在过去的40年中，体育软实力倡议的范围和复杂程度稳步增长；c）体育软实力的部署受到韩国区域地缘政治环境的强烈影响。