'The Ireland of the Far East'? The Wilsonian Moment in Korea and Ireland.

Focusing on the international efforts of Irish and Korean revolutionaries to win support for the republics proclaimed in Dublin and Seoul in the spring of 1919, this essay assesses how transnational activism and global political developments shaped nationalism within both countries. Despite few connections between Ireland and Korea, and the differing outcomes of their struggles, comparison of both movements illustrates how, across the post-war world, nationalists embraced similar strategies, objectives, and discourses in response to the opportunities to advance their claims for independence on the international stage provided by the rise of Wilsonian ideals. This essay reflects on the increasingly global character of post-war anti-imperial movements as the accelerating pace of the transnational movement of people, ideas, and communications stoked nationalist expectations and weakened imperial resolve. It also considers the impact of ‘long-distance nationalism’ on political developments at home. It was primarily through their diasporic populations in the United States that Irish and Korean republicans wielded most international influence, a development which shaped both countries’ domestic politics in varying but significant ways.