Sojin Lim is Reader in Asia Pacific Studies (with special reference to Korea), Course Leader for both MA North Korean Studies and MA Asia Pacific Studies, and Co-Director of the International Institute of Korean Studies at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. She is the author of articles and book chapters on sustainable development and political economy. Her recent publications include International Aid and Sustainable Development in North Korea: A Country Left Behind with Cloaked Society (2024). She frequently discusses changes in the Korean Peninsula in media interviews.

• Commentary Preface 1. Out of Proportion: The 2019 Electoral Reform and the State of Representative Democracy in South Korea 2. South Korea’s Democratic Experience: Political Leadership and Civil Society 3. What Role to Play? Assessing the Republic of Korea’s Future Nuclear Diplomacy 4. Reassessing the South Korea–China–Japan Trilateral Summits: The Limits of Institutionalism in East Asia 5. Diplomatic Competition Between North and South Korea in the Southern Cone (1950–1977) 6. Why Presenting a Foe as a Friend Can Make Sense: Explaining Shifts in North Korea’s Construction of a South Korean Threat in State Media

Sojin Lim is Reader in Asia Pacific Studies (with special reference to Korea), Course Leader for both MA North Korean Studies and MA Asia Pacific Studies, and Co-Director of the International Institute of Korean Studies at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. She is the author of articles and book chapters on sustainable development and political economy. Her recent publications include International Aid and Sustainable Development in North Korea: A Country Left Behind with Cloaked Society (2024). She frequently discusses changes in the Korean Peninsula in media interviews.

• Commentary Preface 1. Out of Proportion: The 2019 Electoral Reform and the State of Representative Democracy in South Korea 2. South Korea’s Democratic Experience: Political Leadership and Civil Society 3. What Role to Play? Assessing the Republic of Korea’s Future Nuclear Diplomacy 4. Reassessing the South Korea–China–Japan Trilateral Summits: The Limits of Institutionalism in East Asia 5. Diplomatic Competition Between North and South Korea in the Southern Cone (1950–1977) 6. Why Presenting a Foe as a Friend Can Make Sense: Explaining Shifts in North Korea’s Construction of a South Korean Threat in State Media

Sojin Lim is Reader in Asia Pacific Studies (with special reference to Korea), Course Leader for both MA North Korean Studies and MA Asia Pacific Studies, and Co-Director of the International Institute of Korean Studies at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. She is the author of articles and book chapters on sustainable development and political economy. Her recent publications include International Aid and Sustainable Development in North Korea: A Country Left Behind with Cloaked Society (2024). She frequently discusses changes in the Korean Peninsula in media interviews.

• Commentary Preface 1. Out of Proportion: The 2019 Electoral Reform and the State of Representative Democracy in South Korea 2. South Korea’s Democratic Experience: Political Leadership and Civil Society 3. What Role to Play? Assessing the Republic of Korea’s Future Nuclear Diplomacy 4. Reassessing the South Korea–China–Japan Trilateral Summits: The Limits of Institutionalism in East Asia 5. Diplomatic Competition Between North and South Korea in the Southern Cone (1950–1977) 6. Why Presenting a Foe as a Friend Can Make Sense: Explaining Shifts in North Korea’s Construction of a South Korean Threat in State Media