Progressive and conservative visions of inter-Korean relations

The fourth chapter analyses one of the most relevant aspect for South Korea’s foreign policy: the relations with North Korea. First of all, Pyongyang’s regime represents the most direct threat for the security of South Korea, especially in recent years with the rapid development of the nuclear and missile program. In addition, inter-Korean relations have been considered over the years a crucial part of Seoul’s foreign policy: the final goal of national unification is enshrined in the Article 4 of South Korean constitution and the dynamics of confrontation and cooperation between the two Koreas have influenced not only the situation on the peninsula, but the broader East Asian balance of power. During the last thirty years the different South Korean governments have managed the relations with Pyongyang in very different ways, according to the different beliefs of the two main political traditions. In spite of the fact that North Korea represents an existential threat to the survival of the country, there has been little bi-partisan consensus on how to deal with Pyongyang’s regime. The purpose of this chapter is precisely that of analysing the different approaches to inter-Korean relations of recent South Korean administration, emphasising the different characteristics of progressives and conservatives and also the relation between economic and political cooperation. Through this perspective we will be able to assess the consequences of the domestic political divide for inter-Korean relations and also of the dichotomy between politics and economics, which in this specific case has proved to be effective in enhancing cooperation. The first part of the chapter examines the changes that occurred in inter-Korean relations after the end of the Cold War and the democratization in the South. The second part focuses on the progressive administrations of Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun (1998-2008), during which cooperation became the most relevant feature of the relations between North and South Korea and the division between economic-cultural and political-military aspects started to be fully implemented, in order to begin a process of national reconciliation. The third part takes into account the different approaches implemented by the conservative governments of President Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye (2008-2017) that brought to the end of the cooperation era and reinstated the close link between economic and military aspects. Finally, in the last part we examine the first period of Moon Jae-in’s North Korean policy through this perspective, with the aim of assessing and evaluate the main challenges and risks for the future.