This paper aims to examine the evolution and current state of non-governmental organizations actively campaigning for the reunification of North and South Korea (hereinafter, “Unification NGOs”) in Korean society, and to explore the directions and...
This paper aims to examine the evolution and current state of non-governmental organizations actively campaigning for the reunification of North and South Korea (hereinafter, “Unification NGOs”) in Korean society, and to explore the directions and alternatives of governance necessary for the future unification
process. The peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula is a constitutional task mandated to all presidents and administrations of South Korea. The "National Community Unification Plan," which has been the unification plan of successive South Korean governments, aims for gradual and phased unification based on the construction of a national community through expanded reconciliation and exchange cooperation between North and South Korea. It has been modified
and supplemented to suit the changing times and continues to this day.
Governance has been known in South Korea since the late 1990s and is a theory that guarantees private participation from the policy planning stage to draw active participation from the private sector, evolving from public-private partnerships where the government entrusts part of its policies to the private sector. However, governance is not a single concept but encompasses various theories and forms, and its application varies according to the trends of the
times and different fields. It goes through processes where it sometimes achieves its intended purposes and sometimes fails. More than any other task, peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula can yield results only through effective cooperation with the participation of various domestic and international actors. In this regard, the governance between the South Korean government and Unification NGOs is particularly important, and there have been several cases
where this has been pursued at a rudimentary level.
Unification NGOs have been active in the fields of North Korean aid, inter-Korean exchange, public opinion formation, and unification education, and have established advanced governance with the South Korean government. However, problems have also emerged, such as failing to secure public support while being operated by a few prominent figures or single-person NGOs, engaging in biased activities due to excessive political ideology, focusing solely on North
Korean exchanges and becoming inactive when inter-Korean relations deteriorate, and neglecting social consensus and solidarity, which are key values of NGOs. Unification NGOs have gone through a process of change, forming governance with the government under difficult internal and external conditions faced by the trends of the times, and have achieved some results. However, to address the problems that have been exposed, in conjunction with the current political situation, they need to establish multi-level governance as a solution.
Multi-level governance is a new form of governance brought about by the decentralization of government authority due to globalization and localization. It was proposed during the European integration process to establish permanent peace on the European continent after the First and Second World Wars, and successfully integrated the current European Union, which has significant implications for the Korean Peninsula. To summarize the characteristics of multi-level
governance: First, it can increase the possibility of resolving two-dimensional issues that cannot be solved in bilateral relations between hostile states by transforming them into three-dimensional issues involving multilateral participation. Second, it allows regional issues that transcend central governments and borders to be addressed through cooperation between local governments in ways that suit regional characteristics. Third, it enables efficient response
and management of international issues that were previously unforeseen, due to the rapid advancement of science and technology.
Fourth, it can further expand the participation of citizens and the market To achieve this, Unification NGOs should establish governance with the government. First, they should venture into new areas to secure public support by engaging in online activities to overcome the boundaries of division and localize the governance of Unification NGOs. Second, as a practical step to resolve political bias, they need to monitor South Korean media while gathering public opinion on
opening North Korean media, and expand public forums to address internal conflicts within South Korea. Third, they must explore tasks for the inter-Korean federation stage and establish new governance for North Korean aid and economic cooperation to develop mid to long-term plans for improving inter-Korean relations. Fourth, to ecure minimal consensus and solidarity, they should foster a minimal level of consensus for consistency in North Korea and unification
policies, and form solidarity with domestic and international NGOs to tackle contemporary challenges.