• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.143-160
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• 2016

The official development assistance (ODA) accompanies an interstate financial transaction, such as trade, foreign direct investment, and money transfer. ODA policy has designated several purposes. Among them, political purposes have been considered to be the key factors in the regional distribution of foreign aid. If we agree the traditional approach that recognizes ODA as a 'political one', the practice of ODA can be a kind of state geopolitics. This study investigates the construction and characteristics of geopolitical discourses. More specifically, this study pays special attention to the 'practical geopolitics' that is crucial to the policy-making. By analyzing the minutes of the National Assembly Standing Committee, four geopolitical discourses were identified: 'practicing humanities as a developed country', 'providing a role model to developing countries', 'developing new foreign markets' and 'coping with global geopolitics'. These geopolitical discourses have been constructed through the process of justifying the ODA policy to the domestic and international audiences. Constructing discourses on ODA shows the representation of a dichotomous and typical image of developed/developing.