1. Changes of North Korea and the Future of Inter-Korean Relations.
- Author
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Tae-Hwan Kwak and Seung-Ho Joo
- Subjects
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INTERNATIONAL relations , *SOCIAL history , *SOCIALISM ,SOUTH Korean foreign relations - Abstract
In the South Korean society, there are ongoing debates over North Korea¡¯s change. The conservatives and the progressives in South Korean society have conflicting views on this issue. The progressives hold that North Korea has changed significantly, whereas the conservatives argue that it has not changed fundamentally. To end futile and divisive debates over North Korea¡¯s change and to build a national consensus on the Republic of Korea¡¯s engagement policy of national reconciliation and cooperation with the DPRK, it is important to operationally define the concept of North Korea¡¯s change and establish objective criteria for its measurement. The authors of this paper have three specific objectives: (1) to analyze ROK’s engagement policy toward North Korea as a catalyst for North Korea’s change; (2) to set up objective criteria for evaluating North Korea¡¯s change; and (3) to make policy recommendations for constructive inter-Korean relations. The authors attempt to operationalize the concept of North Korea’s change to avoid confusion about North Korea’s change. A clear distinction needs to be made between changes in the North Korean-style socialist system and changes in North Korean leadership¡¯s thinking and policy. We do not expect North Korea will change its socialist system in the short run because North Korean leadership fears a sudden systemic change, which would threaten the very survival of its own system. In this paper we attempt to analyze North Korea’s changes in terms of thinking and policy. We argue that North Korea’s changes in thinking and policy would eventually bring about its systemic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2002