이명박 정부 대북정책 평가와 차기 정부 대북정책 방향 = Review of Lee Myung-bak Government`s North Korea Policy and Directions of Next Government`s North Korea Policy

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Since its inauguration in 2008, the Lee Myung-bak government has stuck to its tough policy that North Korea must give up its nuclear programs before any large-scale aid and inter-Korean cooperation can resume. But such “principled and flexible” policy toward Pyongyang has undergone ups and downs, and the frayed relations between the two divided Koreas have plunged to the lowest level in decades. After the Lee Myung-bak administration came to power and the shooting of a South Korean tourist at the Mount Kumgang resort, tensions escalated further between the two Koreas, even more so with the Cheonan`s sinking and Yeonpyeong Island shelling. Among the South Koreans, the animosity toward the North grew deeper and that led to the belief that unification would come soon. The incumbent government`s North Korea Policy has been under severe attack by South Korean progressives and opposition parties. They have lashed out at the government`s hard-line policy, saying it has caused inter-Korean relations to plummet back to Cold War levels. Furthermore the South Korean government hasn`t found a way to thaw the chilly relations, and instead resorts to harshly criticizing the North Korea. Now the situations surrounding the Korean Peninsula are expected to change swiftly with the rise of a new leadership in South Korea.