Historicizing Science and Technology Diplomacyin Japan and South Korea

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In recent years, science diplomacy has swept both diplomatic and science policy circles around the world. Japan and South Korea are no exception and science and technology diplomacy (S&T diplomacy) is now the core agenda for their foreign affairs and science policy branches. In both countries, despite the rising interest in S&T diplomacy, its long history is only vaguely recognized, as until now, those directly involved in current science diplomacy have largely failed to focus on it. To address this gap, this essay aims to provide a historical perspective on S&T diplomacy in Japan and South Korea. It reviews the global historiography and surveys relevant historical literature written in Japanese, Korean, and English. It also explores historical cases that are often overlooked but are essential for understanding the history of Japanese and South Korean S&T diplomacy. This work encourages Japanese and Korean historians of science to engage with S&T diplomacy as a legitimate research agenda, which would in turn contribute to a decentralization of science policy-dominated S&T diplomacy studies and promote a deeper understanding of the contemporary history of science, technology, and medicine in these two countries.