International Justice and South-North Korean Relations for Korean Unification = International Justice and South-North Korean Relations for Korean Unification

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper attempts to analyze from a perspective of international justice the characteristics of existing South-North Korean relations with an aim to explore better conditions for improving the inter-Korean relationship towards Korean unification. The South and North Korean relations have revolved around a vicious cycle of non-cooperative and antagonistic confrontation that resembles the prisoner’s dilemma. South and North Koreans share a historically developed common nationhood. However, this common national identity, overshadowed by the interests of each government in the South and the North, has failed to provide the common ground for South and North Korea to cooperate with each other. Furthermore, it has not contributed to constructing even a minimum public sphere where citizens of both sides can exercise public reason that begins with sharing political values and principles. Human rights, beginning with a minimalist approach, should be the political values that the South and the North commonly respect in regulating inter-Korean relations. With the gradual protection of human rights, the South and the North can begin to construct a minimal public sphere where citizens in South and North Korea exercise pubic reason concerning the issues of the South-North Korean relations and Korean unification, alongside guaranteeing the principle of non-aggression and expanding humanitarian assistance.