Since the 2018-19 U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi ended without a deal and North Korea embarked on a long-term head-to-head struggle with the U.S., hostility and confrontation between both sides have intensified daily. The rapid re-entry of the Korea...
Since the 2018-19 U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi ended without a deal and North Korea embarked on a long-term head-to-head struggle with the U.S., hostility and confrontation between both sides have intensified daily. The rapid re-entry of the Korean Peninsula into a Cold War system that locked in Korea’s division is a consequence of Korea’s failed mediation of the U.S.-North Korea summit. The Cold War system is likely to be the worst scenario for the two Koreas. There is little to gain if North Korea, which is in a hurry to build its economy, has to turn its back on South Korea, the U.S., and Japan and cling to China and Russia. South Korea is also facing an uncomfortable situation in which it is forced to take sides in the U.S.-China G2 competition. From the concept of “unification” or “peace,” it is necessary to change existing diplomatic and security paradigms. South Korea must worry about the disappearance of the country due to population decline. Human society is moving toward a transnational integration of multiracial, multilingual, multi-religious, and pluralism, abandoning the bond of exclusive ethnicity. Global diffusion and exchange, contact, and hybridization have become the values of the new era.