Security Issues and Challenges for South Korea 2014: Domestic and Regional

An unprecedented level of complexity arising from simultaneous competition, cooperation, mutual checks and mutual dependency among nations, marks today's global security environment. This complex interplay of contradictory patterns of relations makes it extremely difficult for any single nation, even if it were the world's superpower, the United States, to determine a course of action proactively. Despite the geopolitically strategic location it occupies, South Korea is no exception-a result of the inherent limitations to the makeup of its national strength and the constant threats it faces from the North. Security and defense are therefore areas of utmost attention for not only a scholar such as the author, but for all Koreans. The intention in writing this paper is to delineate the anguish and struggles Koreans are experiencing in trying to overcome internal and external security challenges, and also explain their resolve for the future.