Korea Diplomat Candidate Exam key terms

A rule preventing a state's courts from exercising jurisdiction over another sovereign state without its consent. It is now generally restrictive, covering public governmental acts (acta jure imperii) but not commercial acts (acta jure gestionis), which may be litigated before domestic courts.

The foundational principle that all states are legally equal regardless of size, wealth, or power. It underlies the UN Charter, prohibits intervention in domestic affairs, and supports rules such as jurisdictional immunity and the requirement of consent for adjudication.

Jurisdiction exercised by any state over certain grave crimes, such as piracy, genocide, and war crimes, regardless of where the crime occurred or the nationality of the offender or victim. It is typically limited by the requirement of the accused's presence in the forum state.

The 1969 treaty codifying the law of treaties. It governs how treaties are concluded, interpreted, amended, and terminated, including rules on reservations, pacta sunt servanda, rebus sic stantibus, and the supremacy of jus cogens norms.

A peremptory norm of general international law accepted and recognized by the international community as a whole, from which no derogation is permitted. Examples include prohibitions on genocide, slavery, torture, and aggressive use of force.

A unilateral statement made by a state when signing, ratifying, or acceding to a treaty, excluding or modifying the legal effect of certain provisions. Reservations are valid only if compatible with the treaty's object and purpose.

A permanent court seated in The Hague with jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression. It operates on the principle of complementarity, acting only when national courts are unwilling or genuinely unable to prosecute.

The UN organ of fifteen members, five holding permanent seats with veto power, responsible for maintaining international peace and security. It may impose sanctions, authorize force, and issue binding resolutions under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

A system in which states agree that an attack on one is treated as an attack on all, and respond collectively through an institutional body. It is embodied in the UN Charter's Chapter VII framework and contrasts with alliance-based collective defense.

A doctrine adopted by the UN in 2005 holding that each state protects its population from mass atrocities, and that the international community may act if the state manifestly fails. Action is to proceed through the Security Council and be proportionate.

The prohibition on states interfering in the internal or external affairs of another state, including coercive measures such as armed intervention or subversion. It is a corollary of sovereignty but is contested in the context of humanitarian crises.

A collective defense alliance founded in 1949 whose Article 5 obliges members to treat an armed attack on one as an attack on all. It expanded eastward after the Cold War, a process Russia cites as a security grievance.

A realist mechanism in which states form alliances or build capabilities to prevent any single power from dominating the international system. It explains balancing behavior, bandwagoning, and the stability of multipolar or bipolar orders.

A school of international relations theory emphasizing state survival, power, and self-help under anarchy. It predicts balancing, security dilemmas, and skepticism toward international institutions, and includes classical, structural, and neoclassical variants.

A situation in which one state's defensive measures appear threatening to others, prompting countermeasures and a spiral of mutual insecurity. It is central to realist explanations of arms races and the difficulty of cooperation under anarchy.

A theory arguing that international institutions can mitigate anarchy by reducing transaction costs, providing information, and enabling credible commitments. It predicts cooperation through regimes and interdependence, though it is criticized for underestimating power politics.

A set of implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules, and decision-making procedures around which state expectations converge in a given issue area. Examples include trade, monetary, and climate regimes.

A deliberate policy of leaving intentions unclear to deter adversaries and reassure partners simultaneously. In Korean security debates it describes uncertainty about intervention in a contingency, preserving flexibility while avoiding entrapment or abandonment.

The use of threats to prevent an adversary from taking an action by convincing it that costs will exceed gains. It relies on credibility, capability, and communication, and is distinguished from compellence, which aims to change behavior.

The security alliance between South Korea and the United States, formalized by the 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty. It includes the US-ROK Combined Forces Command and has expanded beyond the peninsula into economic and technological cooperation.

The principle that mutually beneficial trade arises from differences in opportunity costs, not absolute productivity. A country gains by specializing in goods it produces at lower opportunity cost, even if it is less efficient in every good.

A trade theory holding that countries export goods intensive in their abundant factor and import goods intensive in their scarce factor. It predicts that trade raises returns to abundant factors and reduces them for scarce factors, generating distributional conflict.

A tax levied on imported or exported goods, usually to raise revenue or protect domestic producers. Tariffs raise consumer prices and can trigger retaliation, and their welfare effects are analyzed through consumer and producer surplus and deadweight loss.

Policies restricting imports to shield domestic industries, including tariffs, quotas, subsidies, and local-content rules. It may preserve jobs and strategic capacity but risks inefficiency, higher prices, and escalation through retaliation.

The international organization governing trade in goods and services since 1995, succeeding GATT. It administers agreements, provides a dispute settlement mechanism, and operates on principles including most-favored-nation treatment and national treatment.

A WTO principle requiring a member to extend any trade advantage granted to one country to all members. Exceptions include free trade areas, customs unions, and special treatment for developing countries under the enabling clause.

A situation in which increased government borrowing raises interest rates and reduces private investment. Its strength depends on the economy's proximity to full employment and on monetary policy accommodation.

The use of government spending and taxation to influence aggregate demand, employment, and inflation. Its tools include automatic stabilizers and discretionary stimulus, and its effectiveness is constrained by lags, multipliers, and debt sustainability.

Central bank actions managing money supply and interest rates to achieve price stability and support growth. Instruments include policy rates, open market operations, and reserve requirements, with transmission through credit, exchange rates, and expectations.

The proposition that a country cannot simultaneously maintain a fixed exchange rate, free capital movement, and independent monetary policy. It must sacrifice one, which shapes choices among currency pegs, capital controls, and floating regimes.

The division of government authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches, each checking the others. It aims to prevent tyranny, and in Korea it is embodied in the Constitution's structure of the National Assembly, executive, and courts.

Korea's specialized court reviewing the constitutionality of statutes, adjudicating impeachment, dissolving political parties, and resolving competence disputes. Its decisions bindingly invalidate unconstitutional laws and protect fundamental rights.

The principle that public power is exercised under law, with clear rules, due process, and independent adjudication. It contrasts with rule by decree and is a precondition for predictable administration and rights protection.

Rules issued by the executive under statutory authorization, such as presidential decrees and ministerial ordinances. Limits on subdelegation and the requirement of statutory basis guard against administrative overreach.

The post-1648 order of sovereign territorial states recognizing no higher authority above them. It established principles of territorial integrity and non-interference that still frame debates about sovereignty and intervention.

The bipolar confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union from roughly 1947 to 1991, marked by nuclear deterrence, proxy wars, and ideological competition. Its end reshaped alliances and the UN's role.

An economic and policy paradigm emphasizing deregulation, privatization, and market liberalization, influential from the 1980s. It is associated with the Washington Consensus and has been contested over inequality and state capacity.

An inference drawn from too few or unrepresentative cases to a broad conclusion. In situational judgment items it appears as sweeping claims from anecdotal evidence, and it is countered by demanding sample size and representativeness.

Rejecting an argument by attacking the speaker's character, motive, or circumstances rather than the argument's substance. It is a relevance fallacy and should be distinguished from legitimate credibility challenges based on expertise.