Toward a Neorealist Theory of Unification : Balance of Power and Unification Type

Dylan Motin Ewha Institute of Unification Studies 2023 Journal of peace and unification Vol.13 No.1

Although numerous studies discussed divided nations and their (non-)unification, few applied neorealist insights to explain the phenomenon of national unification. In this article, I show that peaceful unification is possible only under rare circumstances. A would-be unifier must enjoy a favorable power imbalance both at the level of great power politics and among the divided states. If a balance of power exists, either unification does not happen, or only armed unification will occur. After conceptualizing unification and proposing a theory of unification type, I describe the balances of power in seven cases of divided states taken from the nineteenth to the twentieth centuries (1861 Italy, 1871 Germany, 1975 Vietnam, 1990 Yemen and Germany, contemporary Korea and China). This article matters for understanding Korea’s enduring division and developing international relations theory.

Contending Unification Formulas on the Korean Peninsula and Tasks for Future Research

Kim, Hak-Sung Ewha Institute of Unification Studies 2011 Journal of peace and unification Vol.1 No.1

A variety of formulas have been presented for the unification of the Korean Peninsula since its division. This paper attempts to organize, by time, major issues around the formulas put forward for peaceful unification by the South and North Korean governments and societies. During the Cold War period, the South and North Korean governments advanced unification proposals mainly as an instrument of ideological competition. Since the end of the Cold War, however, unification formulas have become a fresh subject of public discussions. The South-North competition over unification formulas during the Cold War period can be summarized as a confrontation of “nationalism and anti-communism” and “federalism and functionalism.” In the post-Cold War era, the June 15, 2000, South-North Joint Declaration touched off debates on the possibility of convergence of the unification formulas of South and North, but the limits of such possibility were soon revealed. Since the instability of the North Korean system was magnified, discussions on new unification formulas with future images of unified Korea in mind have emerged because of the practical necessity of preparing for unification. Based on these issues, this writing tries to find the meanings of the debates over unification formulas in unification studies and to present tasks for future research that can be raised from the perspectives of value, system, and practical strategy.

Normalization of Inter-Korean Relations to Lay Foundations of Unification

Jihwan Hwang Ewha Institute of Unification Studies 2014 Journal of peace and unification Vol.4 No.2

The Park Geun Hye government has explained the trust-building process on the Korean Peninsula as “a policy to develop South-North relations by building trust based on solid security, settling peace on the peninsula, and further building foundations for unification.” However, the tasks of normalization of inter-Korean relations have been dealt not for unification in the long-term level but short-term development, staying in improving the relations of two Koreas. So, most of the policy issues have not successfully introduced and implemented from a long-term strategic perspective on unification due to the constraints that inter-Korean relations have. In view of this, the detailed and various tasks of normalizing inter-Korean relations to build unification foundation need to be re-arranged as new promotion strategy. Under the diverse principles of pushing them ahead and the basics of driving directions, the works to be done for normalizing inter-Korean relations are necessary to be presented in phases separated by three steps. The principles of the normalizing relationship between South and North may present their methodological directions based on the three promotional principles of the Korean Peninsula trust-building process proposed by the government in terms of policy coherence and efficiency in the process of unification.

Deliberative Democracy for National Consensus-Building on Unification Policy

Song, Joung-ho Ewha Institute of Unification Studies 2011 Journal of peace and unification Vol.1 No.1

Unification policy is gradually entering the realm of governance wherein people partake in the process of its formation. Engagement of citizens in development, implementation, and evaluation of the unification policy is a concrete means to realize a “participatory unification.” For the engagement of citizens, it is necessary to develop methods allowing easier and wider public access to government information and guarantee free expressions of views on related matters. This paper is aimed at seeking an institutional method to forge a national consensus that the Korean government has advocated as a major principle of its unification policy amid changing political and social environments. This paper proposes in particular an introduction of the participatory decision-making process as a form of deliberative democracy based on public participation and deliberation in order to build a national consensus on unification policy with improved policy governance. Deliberative democracy can provide citizens with practical chances to participate in unification policy processes, offer extensive information on unification policy issues and invite ordinary citizens as representatives in relieving the South-South conflicts. But a successful deliberative democracy requires increased public awareness of the values of dialogue, compromise, concessions and reciprocity, a community culture respecting deliberation and discussions at workplaces and in day-to-day lives, which are to be followed by changes in the practice of decision-making. Further, a strict methodology for an application of different deliberative democracy models to the realm of unification policy needs to be developed.

Post-Stalinist Neopatrimonial Rentier State : Current Status of North Korean Transformation and its Implications for North Korea’s Future and Korean Unification

Park, Hyeong Jung Ewha Institute of Unification Studies 2011 Journal of peace and unification Vol.1 No.1

This paper assumes that the more North Korea moves to market democracy, the sooner and easier unification could be achieved. North Korea since the 1990s is conceived as a hybrid of post-Stalinism, neopatrimonialism, and rentier state. It is not understood as a transitional system between plan dictatorship and market democracy, but rather as an “alternative direction” with idiosyncratic structures and institutions and with resiliency though accompanied by recurrent crisis. The North Korean hybrid places grave obstacles to economic reform and political liberalization. The prospect for North Korea’s future can thus not be optimistic, and the institutional gaps between the two Koreas will not be narrowed down rapidly. This means no good news for Korean unification.

Characteristics and Challenges of the Trust-Building Process on the Korean Peninsula

Park, Jong Chul Ewha Institute of Unification Studies 2013 Journal of peace and unification Vol.3 No.2

The Park Geun-hye administration wants to establish a policy toward North Korea on the basis of trust. The new government finds that the tensions in inter-Korean relations and in East Asia resulted from the absence of trust. The concept of trust involves several features. First, trust is mutual. Second, trust does not occur by chance but requires conditions and facilitating factors to build trust. Third, building trust is achieved through gradual and cumulative processes. Fourth, building trust requires domestic support and international cooperation. The Trust-Building Process on the Korean Peninsula has the following characteristics. First, the Trust-Building Process is intended to be evolutionarily developed as a policy toward North Korea by reflecting the attainments and drawbacks of the policies in the past governments.Second, it is intended to stop a vicious cycle of provocation and dialogue repeated by North Korea. Third, the policy is intended to combine the management of division with the preparation for unification. Fourth, it is intended to gradually accumulate trust. Fifth, it is intended to loosely connect the North Korea nuclear issue with inter-Korean relations. Sixth, it is intended to create trust in inter-Korean, international, and internal dimensions. Seventh, the Trust-Building Process on the Korean Peninsula is intended to cover issues of various fields: the nuclear program and peace, economic exchanges and cooperation, social and cultural exchanges and cooperation, humanitarian issues, reinforcement of unification infrastructure, and peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia. Finally, the policy is intended to organize a network associating a variety of actors, including governments, private organizations, individuals, international organizations, and other countries, with each other.

Cabinet Committee for German Unification and its Lessons

Chang-Seok Yang Ewha Institute of Unification Studies 2014 Journal of peace and unification Vol.4 No.2

South Korean President Park Geun Hye launched on July 15, 2014 the 50-member committee to prepare for the unification on the Korean Peninsula. President Park chairs the committee and has two deputy chairmen, one from the government and the other from the civilian side. The committee consists of four sub-committees: (1) diplomacy and security, (2) economy, (3) society and culture, and (4) politics and legal system. The Presidential Committee for Unification Preparation has been reported as intending to set forth a blueprint for a unified Korean Peninsula, including a charter of unification, and to propose guidelines to prepare for unification. With the chance for unification still remote, it would not be easy for the committee to define practical, specific steps to prepare for unification. Although there exist differences between Korea and Germany, examining how the West German government organized its committee for unification, and drawing lessons from the German case, would be meaningful.

The Current Implementation and Future Strategies of the Trust-Building Process

Choi, Jin Wook Ewha Institute of Unification Studies 2013 Journal of peace and unification Vol.3 No.2

In spite of the strained inter-Korean relations, the North Korea policy of the Park Geun-hye Administration enjoys considerable support at home and abroad, including the U.S. and China, more than any former government in South Korea. A survey indicates the decrease in the social conflict around the North Korea policy. The key to an efficient North Korea policy is to make an international consensus through policy alignment with the United States and China. It is also desirable to be flexible in policy measures to solve problems in a gradual trust-building process rather than clinging to a certain policy or area. Lastly, South Korea should push forward unification-oriented policies toward North Korea that goes beyond the dichotomy between maintenance of the status quo and preparation for unification.

The Cyber-Nuclear Nexus and its Impact on the Stability of the International Security Order

Seung Hugh Shin Ewha Institute of Unification Studies 2022 Journal of peace and unification Vol.12 No.4

This paper analyzes the impact of the emerging ‘cyber-nuclear nexus’ on the structural, constitutive, and institutional elements of the international security order to examine the possibility of changes in the stability of the order. Based on the analyses, the paper argues that the cyber-nuclear nexus causes or has the potential to cause changes in the stability of the order on three levels. First, there are signs of change in the unequal distribution of power between countries based on traditional military resources and the international hi-erarchy, in other words, the ‘structural element’ of the order is changing accordingly, as the vulnerability of conventional military resources to cyber threats increases due to the digitalization of military resources including nuclear weapons. Second, as the influence of non-state actors as the subject of cyber-nuclear threats is expanding, the ‘constitutive ele-ment’ of the order, which originally assumes the sovereign state as the only subject and object of security, is changing. Third, as the need for combining the non-proliferation/nu-clear security-related regimes and cyber security-related norms to manage the growing cyber-nuclear threats increases, changes are expected in the ‘institutional element’ of the order that is expressed through international institutions. Among the three, the changes in the structural and constitutive elements are accelerated as they interlock with the strategic competition between the U.S. and China that is already jeopardizing the stability of the existing order.

In Search of a Creative Korean Unification Formula through Neutralization

Kwak, Tae-Hwan Ewha Institute of Unification Studies 2013 Journal of peace and unification Vol.3 No.2

Koreans wish to achieve Korean unification as a long-term goal, but the regrettable truth is that many obstacles hinder the Korean unification process. This article attempts to evaluate current unification formulae of the two Koreas and to propose a Korean unification formula through neutralization as an alternative to the two Koreas’ existing formulae. The rationale for neutralization on the Korean peninsula is provided and a five-stage unification formula is proposed. The Korean people as key players must work together for a neutralization unification formula and persuade major powers to support a neutralized, unified Korea, which will be in their best interests.