A Study On The Park Geun-hye Government's Policy Towards The DPRK And The Influence Of American Factors

In 2012,Park Geun-hye was elected the president of South Korea.While the condition of Korean peninsula was deteriorating and North Korea – South Korea relations dropped to the freezing point,this important change of personnel attracted great attention.The peninsula situation got intense after the cold war and the South Korean government's strategies towards North Korea differed according to international situation at the moment.Though conservative governments and advanced government adopted different policy paradigms,generally the North Korean government's policy toward South Korea failed to solve the Korean nuclear weapon issue or maintain the long-term development of the Korean peninsula.Actually,the peninsula has fallen into a state of predicament.Since Park Geun-hye took office,she has launched a series of campaigns which aim at accelerating “Trust-Building Process on the Korean Peninsula” based on mutual trust.This paper intends to solve the following questions: First,what are the Park Geun-hye government's policy towards North Korea in nature? Second,what role does America play in it?The paper is written according to the following structure:In the first part,it describes the dilemma of the South Korean government's policy toward North Korea.By reviewing,analyzing and comparing South Korea's policies toward North Korea after the cold war,including the Reconciliation and Cooperation policy of the Kim Dae-Jung and Roh Mu-Hyun era and the practical policy during the presidency of Lee Myung-bak,it points out the predicament and contradiction in traditional strategies taken by South Korean government toward North Korea.In the second part,it analyzes Park Geun-hye government's strategy toward North Korea by using comparative research approach.Starting from the concept of trust,it elucidates the the lack of trust between North and South Korea.Then,it demonstrates the nature of the "peninsula trust process",namely,a strategy which aims at achieving national unity,by means of mutual trust,and through a path of "establishing trust mechanism-promoting relations between North and South Korea-achieving piece among the peninsula".The third part explains why American influence can play a special role in the process.American factors will be explained in detail from the following four perspectives: policy,ignorance of the security of North Korea,the restriction of U.S.-ROK alliance and America's lure to deploy THAAD.The fourth part gives an overall analysis of American factors in South Korea's policy toward North Korea from the perspective of policy making,policy implementing and policy effects.Finally it concludes that America is the obstacle deterring the restoration of North and South Korea.American interference lead the Park Geun-hye government to take conservative measures and accounted for the internal flaw in them.Therefore,the "peninsula trust process " was not properly implemented and the effect was unsatisfactory.As a result,substantial progress has not been achieved in terms of South Korean-American relations.Therefore,if South Korea wants its policy toward North Korea to work and improve the relations between the two countries,it has to get rid of the influence of America.