Making Sense of Japan’s Export Restrictions against South Korea

Bibliographic Data

ID8369232
AuthorsJi Young Kim (0000-0001-5199-2327, corresponding author), Wenxin Li (0000-0002-6730-2308), Seunghee Lee (0000-0001-5483-0016)
Year2021
Volume61
Issue4
Pages683-710
Publication date2021-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Survey (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0004-4687 • E-ISSN: 1533-838X
PublisherUniversity of California Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1525/as.2021.61.4.683
OpenAlexW3192428203
LanguageEN
Citations received6

Why did Japanese Prime Minister Abe impose controversial export restrictions after rulings by the South Korean Supreme Court on wartime forced laborers? This article answers this question through the lens of domestic symbolism in economic sanctions studies. We argue that domestic political calculations led the Japanese government to adopt hawkish measures against South Korea. Abe wanted to ensure continued support from his constituents and to win the upcoming election. A series of political reforms since the early 1990s have empowered the prime minister and made LDP politicians pay more attention to public opinion than to factional topography. Strong anti-Korean sentiment among the Japanese public reduced the leadership’s concerns about the audience costs of economic countermeasures. Through an examination of the interplay among various domestic actors over the policy measure, this study provides insights on how domestic symbolism can serve as an origin of foreign policy decision-making in democracies

Economic sanctions · Economics · Foreign policy · Government (linguistics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Prime minister · Public opinion · Sanctions · Korean Peninsula Historical and Political Studies · Law

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