절망의 10년, 기교의 10년 -남북경협 20년의 평가- = 10 Years in Despair and Another 10 Years in Artifice -Evaluation of Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation during the Last 20 Years-

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Lee Sang, a famous poet, declared in 1936 that despair produces artifice, and artifice in turn produces despair. And he showed through his entire life that despair could be resolved only by access to the real nature of despair, not by detour with artifice. This paper applies the same logic to the history of inter-Korean economic cooperation during the last 20 years. The 10 years of Roh Tae-Woo and Kim Young-Sam administrations are a period of despair, because inter-Korean economic cooperation had been stagnated in spite of strong desire for expansion of the South. The fundamental reasons for stagnation are economic difficulties of North Korea and its reluctance to active opening and reform. These two are the true nature of despair in inter-Korean economic cooperation. However, Kim Dae-Jung and Roh Moo-Hyun administrations had been trying to bypass the nature of despair and only wanted to make ostentation of records of inter-Korean economic cooperation projects. Hence, the 20 years of inter-Korean economic cooperation history can be classified into the 10 years in despair and another 10 years in artifice. This implies that Lee Myung-Bak administration should focus on improving the economic condition of North Korea and inducing its changes towards opening and reform. Otherwise substantial development of inter-Korean economic cooperation can never be expected.