Specifics of the Republic of Korea's Approaches to Participation in Minilateral Formats in the IPR in 2013-2023

During the Cold War, the security architecture in the ITR was shaped by bilateral and multilateral approaches: while the United States and the Soviet Union established ties with individual nation-states, ASEAN dominated the multilateral (multilateral) approach. However, in the realities of a multipolar world, such formats of interaction have ceased to fully serve the interests of states due to their unwieldiness or lack of linkages among outside stakeholders. Since the 2000s, a new wave of cooperation through minilateral platforms has come to the ITR, seen as a more effective (due to their mobility) way of coordinating national policies and ensuring common interests. At the same time, the Republic of Korea has been in a highly conflictual regional environment throughout its existence. The confrontation with the DPRK forced the Republic of Korea to seek ways to ensure its own security, mainly through an alliance with the United States. Against this background, the Republic of Korea's approach to new minilateral formats is of interest, and this study seeks to explain South Korea's selectivity toward minilateralism in security and international status enhancement.