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A Study Of The Applicability Of The "One Country Two Systems" Reunification Policy To The Korean Peninsula

Posted on:2017-05-16Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:Z X J i h u n P a r k PiaoFull Text:PDF
GTID:2296330488471620Subject:Foreign political system
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In 1945 by the end of the Second World War, other than the Korean Peninsula all ot her divided countries been successfully reunited, whether by means of force, agreemen t, or through merging together. In the 70 years since the split of the Korean Peninsul a into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea, the dis crepancies between governance, economic situation, and culture between the North and South have become increasingly prominent and the difference between the two count ries is becoming ever more defined, with the southern Republic of Korea’s actual eco nomic strength now totaling 37 times that of the DPRK.In May 1984 during the second meeting of the sixth National People’s Congress, Chi na first introduced the "One Country, Two Systems" concept; a concept in which two different systems of governance are implemented within a single country. Under the "One Country, Two Systems" policy, two different systems are recognized including m aintaining two different ways of life, legal, and economic systems. This political syste m is relatively well suited to countries which possess opposing systems and deep run ning differences.Since Hong Kong was formally returned to China by Great Britain, the "One Country, Two Systems" policy has already been implemented for more than 18 years, during which time no major social disturbance has occurred in Hong Kong, and China was able to be reunified whilst maintaining a capitalist system in Hong Kong.Comparatively, since the division of the Korean Peninsula numerous plans for reunific ation have been put forward by both parties. In the 1960’s, a "federal" reunification p Ian was put forward by the DPRK, which went on to form the basis of the proposal for the "Democratic Federal Republic of Korea". In the 1980’s the Republic of Kore a put forward their own "Common Ethnicity Group" reunification proposal. Both of th ese proposals were put forward with the goal of the peaceful reunification of the Kor ean people. In the year 2000, Summit Talks were held between DPRK leader Kim Jo ng Il and the President of the Republic of Korea, Kim Dae Jung. During that time at the "June 15, North-South Joint Declaration" China advocated an "initial federal syst em", and thus after discussion, on 15 June 2000 the "June 15, North-South Joint Dec laration" and an "initial federal system" were published.The Federal Korea advocated by the DPRK bears similarities to China’s "One Country,Two Systems" policy in its content and structure. Although the ultimate aim of Kore an reunification plans is the reunification of North and South into one Korea, the reu nification plan put forward by the Republic of Korea also endorses first implementing two systems, followed by a gradual fusion of the two systems in a way that also be ars similarities to China’s "One Country, Two Systems" policy.However, there still exists many differences between the Chinese situation and that of the Korean Peninsula in both cultural terms and in understanding of the recent histor y surrounding the division of the country. Moreover, in terms of difference in national strength of the North and South, International status, acknowledgment of the situation of the division, and North-South relations, the Korean situation differs to that of Chi na in many aspects. Although in reality it cannot be simply lifted and applied to the Korean situation, the "One Country, Two Systems" policy does provide many lessons applicable to the Korean Peninsula. Thus, this paper will focus on the lessons Korea can gain from China’s "One Country, Two Systems" policy and then proceed to exami ne how the such a policy as "One Country, Two Systems" could be applied to the sit uation of the division on the Korean Peninsula.This paper is divided into six sections. The first will explain the current research situ ation for this paper and research methods. The second will examine China’s "One Co untry, Two Systems" policy, using the situations of Hong Kong and Taiwan to demon strate this system. The third section will compare North-South reunification proposals with the economy and politics of North and South Korea. The fourth section will pro vide an in depth discussion of the Republic of Korea and Democratic People’s Republ ic of Korea’s reunification proposals and examine the limitations of a "One Country, Two Systems" policy. In the fifth section will examine the probability of such a polic y being introduced in the Korean Peninsula, and finally the sixth section will provide a conclusion and final evaluation of the points discussed in this paper.
Keywords/Search Tags:One Country Two Systems, the Korean Peninsula, Political System, South Korea, North Korea
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