| The Korean Peninsula is located in the core of Northeast Asia,and the situation on the Korean Peninsula is closely related to the interests and policies of the major powers around it.After the end of the Cold War,South Korea’s policy towards the DPRK fluctuated,inter-korean relations took place several obvious fluctuations.To explore the development course of South Korea’s policy towards North Korea,to analyze the various tendencies and influencing factors in South Korea’s decision-making process towards North Korea,to explore the connotation of its regularity,to clarify the problems it faces,and to judge the future trend of South Korea’s policy towards North Korea,it is of great significance to the positive interaction between the two Koreas,the maintenance of peace and stability on the peninsula and the promotion of regional development and prosperity.To explore the reasons for the evolution of South Korea’s policy towards North Korea,south Korea’s policy towards the DPRK is deeply influenced by international factors,including the international system of Northeast Asia,the changes of the alliance between South Korea and the United States,and domestic political factors,such as South Korea’s domestic political parties,South Korea’s economic development,national inclination and the degree of recognition of the threat posed by the DPRK.There has been a long division between the Conservative and progressive camps in South Korean politics.There are different tendencies between the conservative and progressive camps in foreign policy,this also determines the post-cold War South Korea’s progressive government and conservative government’s policy towards North Korea there is a certain difference.The study found that progressive governments favor peaceful dialogue with North Korea and emphasize "autonomy" at a moderate distance from the United States,while conservative governments see North Korea as a major "threat" to South Korea’s national security,the South korea-us Alliance is seen as the main means of dealing with this "threat".Based on this,after the end of the Cold War,with the changes in the international and domestic environment,various governments have put forward their respective policies towards the DPRK,focusing on such issues as inter-korean dialogue,economic and trade cooperation,and people-to-people and social exchanges,it destabilizes South Korea’s policy towards North Korea.As a progressive government,Kim Dae-jung came to power in February 1998,proposing the "Sunshine Policy" of adhering to the three principles of "not allowing any armed provocation by the north against the south","not unifying the north by absorption","starting from the areas where it is easiest to reach agreement,and promoting reconciliation with the north",in February 2003,President Roh Moo-hyun continued and developed the "Sunshine Policy" of the Kim Dae-jung administration and launched the "peace and Prosperity Policy".On the basis of adhering to the principle of "those from the south and those from the north",the policy advocates solving existing problems through dialogue in order to establish mutual trust and mutual benefit between the two Koreas,realize effective international cooperation and jointly promote peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula.Under the principle of "separation of politics and Economics",the relations between the two Koreas under the Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations have been greatly improved,the economic cooperation between the two countries has developed rapidly,the non-governmental exchanges have gradually increased,and the relations have been remarkably relaxed.But with North Korea’s first nuclear test in2006,the sunshine policy was in an awkward position.South Koreans are becoming more hostile to the north,and they are becoming suspicious of the overly moderate "sunshine policy".It was in this context that,after a decade of progressive government,the conservative President Lee Myung-bak came to power.After taking office,President Lee Myung-bak pursued the pragmatic policy of "3000" toward North Korea,which advocated "linking politics with economy",followed by "coexistence and prosperity" and "great concessions",its core is around the "non-nuclear open 3000" hard-line policy towards North Korea.Relations between the two Koreas have deteriorated sharply,with the 2010 "Cheonan" incident,the "Yonphyong island shelling" and the "dead end" of the Lee Myung-bak administration’s North Korea policy in the context of the conservative-leaning President Park Geun-hye,trying to change the past South Korean government non-"soft" or "hard" approach to find a "Third Way",that is,"the Korean Peninsula trust process" of the North Korean policy.But the Park Geun-hye administration,as the representative of the traditional conservative forces,still adopts a hard-line policy on security issues and North Korea’s nuclear issue to curb the North’s threats by strengthening the South korean-us Alliance,making its "Third Way" difficult.Relations between the two Koreas have also deteriorated.After the Progressive President Moon jae-in came to power in May 2017,South Korea’s policy toward North Korea has once again returned to an inclusive policy toward North Korea,and launched a "peace and prosperity" policy toward North Korea,the direction and effect of South Korea’s policy towards North Korea has once again become the focus of international attention.In this study,the policies of the progressive government and the Conservative government of the Republic of Korea toward the DPRK are taken as the research object,focusing on the issues of inter-korean dialogue,economic and trade cooperation,and people-to-people exchanges,etc,based on the different cognition of the alliance between the Progressive Government and the conservative government,this paper makes a comparative analysis of the policies of the progressive government and the conservative government towards the DPRK.Furthermore,the paper looks forward to Moon’s policy towards North Korea and its future trend. |
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