E-Book Overview
A fresh historical and theoretical exploration of the much-debated, but still elusive, question of the Korean divide. In contrast to much of the literature on the divide, which deals with state-building on the two sides of the Demilitarized Zone, this book sheds light on the slow, but steady process of homogenization between the two estranged peoples, as accelerated after the end of the Cold War and especially after the inauguration of President Kim Dae-jung in 1998. Providing immense empirical detail as well as theoretical debate on the ideas in policy shaping in South Korea, the book presents a rich ‘history of enemies’ and covers issues including: an overview of the structural shift and the rise and fall of identity groups in South Korea history of 'enemy-making' and 'peace-building' North Korea's external relations with the US, Japan and Europe Hyundai's groundbreaking, cross-border tourism and other economic cooperation projects the lingering nuclear weapons crises. By focusing on the question of identities, the book presents a new approach on one of the most important legacies of the Cold War and threat to peace in the contemporary world: the divided Korean peninsula. As such it fills a major gap in the literature, utilizing new theoretical and empirical frameworks to deal with the Korean division and its future implications in East Asia.
E-Book Content
South Korean Engagement Policies and North Korea
South Korean Engagement Policies and North Korea presents a fresh historical and theoretical exploration of the much-debated question of the Korean divide by examining the impact of engagement on the separated Korean peninsula. The new dynamics and anomalies of inter-Korean rapprochement generated by President Kim Dae-jung's Sunshine Policy are scrutinized using a conceptual framework of comprehensive engagement and similar containment and engagement policies implemented after the end of the Cold War. The book seeks to de®ne comprehensive engagement, showing engagement existing in various forms within international politics. It illustrates the historical context in which comprehensive engagement can be implemented by a government opting to dramatically improve its relations with a longterm adversary in a favourable international environment. The topical issues of anti-Americanism in South Korea, the North Korean nuclear weapons crisis and the future of the South Korean military alliance with America are all covered within this analysis. Son Key-young includes a broad theoretical debate surrounding two key case studies: the relationship between the Hyundai Group's North Korea projects and the historic inter-Korean summit in 2000, and North Korea's nuclear weapons programmes. Drawing on interviews with leading South Korea policymakers and utilizing new theoretical and empirical frameworks, South Korean Engagement Policies and North Korea provides a valuable study of engagement policy and its impact on the identities of a divided people that will be a key text for all academics in the ®eld. Son Key-young is a Lecturer in the School of East Asian Studies at the University of Shef®eld, UK.
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