correlative conjunction

Could you please elaborate about your confusion ?


The King wishes to express that he is not a despot.
The King wishes to express that he is not oblivious to the concerns of the people

Since both are negative, you can separate the common part and join the uncommon part using neither.. nor.

The king wishes to express that he is neither a despot nor oblivious to the concerns of the people.
edit --> But this is wrong, as we cannot join a noun [a despot] and an adjective [oblivious] using conjunctions.

To keep short and correct, we can say: The King is neither a despot nor an ignorant.

Wren-Martin:
Conjunctions merely join: They do no other work. Conjunctions which are used in pairs are called Correlative Conjunctions or merely Correlatives.

Ex:
Either-or -- Either take it or leave it.
Neither-nor -- It is neither useful nor ornamental.
Both-and -- We both love and honour him
Though-yet (rare in current English) -- Though he is suffering much pain, yet he does not complain.
Whether-or -- I do not care whether you go or stay.
Not only-But also -- Not only he is foolish, but also obstinate. edit --> WRONG in GMAT