To improve through sports, the relationship between the South and North and to recover the one nation mentality and one-mindedness of peoples support, this plan has devised a plan in relation to the transition process and activation of sports intercha...
To improve through sports, the relationship between the South and North and to recover the one nation mentality and one-mindedness of peoples support, this plan has devised a plan in relation to the transition process and activation of sports interchange between the South and North. The theoretical background of sports in the South and North is divided into the political function of sports interchange between the South and North, the standpoint of both the South and North with their approach to sports interchange, and the sporting policies of the South and North, and by categorizing the expansion process of sports interchange between the South and North and the activation plan, a self reflecting historical method was applied as the focus of this fundamental documentary study.
The opening up of sports interchange between the South and North commenced with the Luasanne talks of 1963 and developed over the next 40 years with the joint entrance in the Youth Soccer Championships in February 1991, joint entrances in opening & closing ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, and North Korean participation in the 2002 Busan Asian Games and joint entrance again like the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. The North Korean participation in the Busan Asian Games was significant in that it was an official entry in an international competition hosted by South Korea.
The two sides to the significance of dialogues between the South and North in regard to sports are as follows.
Firstly, it actually provided an opportunity of contact between the South and North earlier than any other means during the cold war era where both the liberal and communist sides encountered extreme confrontation and due to the armistace following the Korean War, contact and dialogue were impossible in terms of foreign relations on a political level.
Secondly, likewise it became the driving force behind openness and reconciliation breaking down the barrier of distrust and cold war tensions accumulated over a half century of the division between South and North.
As an essentially non-ideological, non-political medium, it leaps over the barrier of doctrine, ideology, and political constitution providing a contributing example of an approach to peaceful reunification which is the most precious desire of the nation.
The driving force enabling the break free from the enclosure of mutual distrust extending the half century period of a divided nation, could only be the life force of a one nation holding precious to its 5000 year history. The more extensive the effects of separation extending from the differences in ideology and constitution, the strength needed to overcome this can only rise from direct physical and mental contact and dialogue. It can be easily seen that in fact this is where the significance and accomplishment of sports interchange between the South and North lies.
The development process of sports dialogues between the South and North over 40 years since 1960, was an acute confrontation of a kind of war of attrition process with the urgent North Korean position in relation to maximizing the effects of talks relating to specific cases like constructing united teams bordering on our efforts to open doors for interchange of sports between the South and North.
The analysis of North Korean negotiation strategy and the types of negotiation tactics shown in the sports dialogue between the South and North revealed contrary evidence to such North Korean standpoint.
That is, because North Korea intended the sports dialogue to be utilized for their internal and external political propaganda or as an instrument to overcome crises, the original purpose of sports exchange was neglected, proposing talks on necessary issues in accordance with the situation changes of the South-North relationship, or ceasing talks and inducing a stalemate in a one-sided manner when the talks no longer became necessary. Because of this, it is not too much to say that until the 1980's, the South-North talks of the Olympics participation and construction of unified teams remained just on a debating level.
Since the late 80s however, by the commencement of clear revelations of the accomplishments in the expansion of our northern policy following the rapid transformation in the world situation and the successful hosting of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the change in the reunification environment passed the serious phase, and North Korea moved away from their customary attitudes gradually revealing efforts to adapt to new external environment changes. As a result, the South-North simultaneous membership to the UN was accepted, and even tapped the normalization process of the US-Japanese relationship.
Furthermore, the successful session of the South-North Normalization dialogue enabled the foundational promotion of the construction of a cooperative reconciliation structure, and was put into effect as a transformation point of the generation contributing to the peace policy. Through consistent national authority assertion and expression in relation to peaceful co-existence, and to gain both domestic and foreign concern and support, the activation policy of the cooperative dialogue between the South and North emerged into a new era. And as a link to the formation process of a South-North joint organization in accordance with the sublime major historical principle of the "South-North joint proclamation" of June 15th, it is time of seeking various policies for South-North cooperative dialogue.
In the end, the most important thing is to recover the one nation mentality between the South and North. As seen in the Kim Jeong-Il picture incident (incident where the North Korean cheer leaders were furious that a picture of Kim Jeong-Il was left out in the rain) of the Daegu Universiad Games, the extreme differences in thought between the South and North could be realized. Also, the many incidents that caused the North Korean consideration of withdrawal during the Games can be seen to have arisen from the huge opposing ideologies between the South and North.
To hasten a peaceful reunification of the South and North, a method must be adopted where a recovery of the one nation mentality is sought through sports by the general population eliminating any political characteristics. Through this, the door to cooperative peaceful settlement and reunification will be opened within the Korean peninsula.