Mapping paradiplomacy in South Korea: patterns, determinants, and multilevel dynamics

Paradiplomacy—the international engagements of subnational governments such as cities and regions—has become an increasingly prominent field of research and practice in the context of globalization, decentralization, and multilevel governance. While literature has explored paradiplomacy across various countries, South Korea remains underexplored. This paper presents the first empirical, data-driven mapping of paradiplomatic activity across all 94 South Korean subnational entities, including metropolitan cities, provinces, and lower-level cities. It analyzes nearly 1,200 international partnerships formed by the end of 2023 and identifies key patterns in geographical orientation, structural determinants, and vertical dynamics. The findings reveal that, while all subnational units are involved in paradiplomacy, its intensity strongly correlates with population size, Gross Regional Domestic Product, and export levels. Results show limited coordination between provinces and cities, despite occasional structural alignment. By applying a combination of cosine similarity, Jaccard index, and Spearman’s rank correlation, the paper also introduces new methodological tools to assess paradiplomatic strategy coherence across governance levels. The findings also carry policy implications. Strengthening coordination at the national level, enhancing vertical support from provinces to cities, encouraging smaller municipalities to emulate proactive peers, and engaging diaspora communities could all improve the effectiveness of South Korea’s paradiplomacy.