The United States has been pressuring South Korea to contribute to efforts aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the Strait, which is considered strategic for the international flow of oil, natural gas, and other commodities. The Donald Trump administration has made it clear that it expects greater participation from its allies, and South Korea occupies a particularly relevant position because it is one of Asia’s largest industrial economies

For decades, globalization was conceived as one of the main drivers of positive transformation in the international system. The prevailing belief among academics and policymakers was that the intensification of flows of goods, services, capital, and people would promote economic growth and greater political stability.

According to power transition theory, when a rising power approaches the level of a dominant power, rivalry and instability tend to increase (Organski, 1958). In turn, offensive realism argues that states seek to maximize their relative power as a way to ensure their survival in an anarchic international system (Mearsheimer, 2001).