Objective/Context:

This article analyses South Korea’s diplomatic response to Salvador Allende’s electoral victory. It focuses on how the “Chilean road to socialism,” with its respect for democratic institutions on the one hand and its decision to establish relations with socialist countries on the other, called into question one of the basic tenets of South Korean foreign policy at the time, namely the immediate severance of diplomatic relations with those countries that recognised North Korea.

Methodology:

The historiographical analysis is based primarily on the documentary holdings of the South Korean Diplomatic Archives.

Originality:

To date, there is no publication on South Korea’s position vis-à-vis the Unidad Popular government. With the addition of South Korea as a new “peripheral” actor, this article presents an innovative look at the challenges that the “Chilean way” posed to the divided nations, and it illustrates the global impact of Salvador Allende’s triumph in the 1970 presidential elections.

Conclusions:

South Korea closely followed the responses of other divided nations and faced the dilemma of breaking or maintaining relations with the Unidad Popular government, opting to soften its ideological stance not to lose ground in Chile to North Korea. The exceptional nature of the Chilean project, which sought to promote change within a democratic framework, played an important role in this decision, as it was impossible to question its legitimacy. Ultimately, South Korea eventually discarded its own foreign policy doctrine. While other elements contributed to this change, it is possible to argue that the South Korean experience in Chile had an impact on the way in which that country related to the world. Moreover, the sources consulted raise new questions about Unidad Popular’s foreign policy and its handling of the “Korean question”.

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