Using the News to Measure International Cooperation: Evaluating Japan–ROK Government Cooperation Using the GDELT 2.0 Event Database

By:

March 25, 2026

Using the News to Measure International Cooperation: Evaluating Japan–ROK Government Cooperation Using the GDELT 2.0 Event Database
Using the News to Measure International Cooperation: Evaluating Japan–ROK Government Cooperation Using the GDELT 2.0 Event Database

Volume 24

Abstract: This paper examines how well news articles reflect levels of interstate cooperation, focusing on cooperation between the Japanese and the South Korean governments. The study analyzes events from news articles on Japan–Republic of Korea (ROK) government cooperation from the Global Database of Events, Language and Tone (GDELT) 2.0 Event Database, a global catalog of weighted interstate events. Results reveal that news articles reflect major events of Japan–ROK government cooperation from 2015 to 2024. A few examples of cooperation not represented were found when conflict or past cooperation was reported simultaneously. This study highlights the complexity of Japan–ROK government cooperation and reveals the challenges of using news articles for event data generation.

Keywords: Japan-ROK Cooperation, Japan-Korea Relations, GDELT 2.0 Event Database, Event Data, Japan-South Korea Conflict

Read the full article here.

Share with a colleague:

Volume 24

About the author:

Franziska Schultz is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Bowling Green State University. She holds a PhD in Japanese Studies from the Department of Japanese Studies at Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (University of Tuebingen). Her dissertation “Economic Effects of Political Shocks to Sino-Japanese Relations (2005–2014)” is published within the Springer series “East Asia in the Twenty-first Century”. Franziska Schultz has conducted research in Japan for seven years on a scholarship from the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ), as a Lecturer at Rikkyo University, Tokyo, and as an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Temple University, Japan Campus.

Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus is a peer-reviewed publication, providing critical analysis of the forces shaping the Asia-Pacific and the world.

    About the author:

    Franziska Schultz is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Bowling Green State University. She holds a PhD in Japanese Studies from the Department of Japanese Studies at Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (University of Tuebingen). Her dissertation “Economic Effects of Political Shocks to Sino-Japanese Relations (2005–2014)” is published within the Springer series “East Asia in the Twenty-first Century”. Franziska Schultz has conducted research in Japan for seven years on a scholarship from the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ), as a Lecturer at Rikkyo University, Tokyo, and as an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Temple University, Japan Campus.