Economic Nationalism in South Korea and Taiwan: Examining Identity Discourse and Threat Perceptions towards Japan after the Second World War (1960s–1970s)

South Korea and Taiwan provide fruitful comparisons in political economy. During the Cold War era, they deepened their trade with Japan. However, the top political leaders in those places exhibited different levels of threat perceptions towards Japan. Why did the leaders formulate their discourse towards Japan so differently in the post-Cold War era? The role of nationalism is salient during their economic take-off periods. The motivations behind these developmental strategies and the discourse used to justify such national growth cannot be excluded from the studies of comparative politics and political economy. This article examines the political discourses of two dictators—Park Chung-hee in South Korea and Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan—and shows how they justified their policies towards Japan while establishing economic nationalism at the same time. It concludes with findings that are relevant to recent development in comparative studies, and it offers policy implications for East Asian security