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

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.