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The Paradox of Self-Reliance
['Syrus Solo Jin', 'Christopher S. Chivvis', 'Milan Vaishnav', 'Rohan Mukherjee', 'Hawon Jung', 'Kelly A. Grieco', 'J. James Kim', 'Christian Caryl', 'Bret Devereaux', 'Peter Frankopan']
Foreign Policy
Ironically, many countries will find that sustaining a self-reliant defense industry requires heavy reliance on others for technology sharing, industrial production, and markets.
If one phrase could explain the aspirations of South Korea since its independence, “self-reliance” might be it.
While North Korea made juche—roughly, “self-reliance”—its organizing principle, building its defense industry by cannibalizing the civilian economy and isolating its people, South Korea pursued self-reliance by integrating itself into networks.
These moves did not challenge the U.S. alliance structure; rather, South Korea used its interdependence to accumulate the resources it needed.
Kyiv has rightly celebrated its rapid development of a defense industry in the midst of its war against Russia.